March 26, 2008

HOOVER, Ala. -

MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTH:
It is 12-4 Auburn during the stretch. There is a lot of Auburn orange in the seats on the third base side behind the Auburn dugout, and those far enough down the line are getting the chance to see Paul Burnside throw in the bullpen. Not sure if he is going to get into today's game or not as he is currently doing a long toss, but to see him even in the bullpen is good news for Auburn.

That is all for tonight. Heading down to the dugout for postgame before writing the recap for tonight.

TOP OF THE FIFTH:
It's 10-4 Auburn after AU's 8-run fourth. Highliting the innings was Joseph Sanders' second career grand slam (his first came at Kentucky last year). This one went down the line in left, hugging the foul pole and the 340' sign. With one down in Auburn's half of the fifth, it is 10-4 with Matt Hall on first and one out.

MIDDLE OF THE THIRD:
It is a 2-0 AU lead after two-and-a-half innings on Hunter Morris' RBI triple to the gap in right-center and a second-inning balk with Matt Hall on third after his sixth double in the last nine games.

For those of you in the Birmingham area, you should be able to catch some highlites on the local news as NBC 13 and ABC 33/40 are both here shooting.

One of the things I enjoy about coming to minor league/major league parks is the radar gun display on the scoreboard. We have seen fastballs hit 88 on the gun and changeups down to 66.

In the bottom of the third, it is 2-0 Auburn with men on first and second after back-to-back walks by Scott Shuman.

PREGAME: 5:40 PM
Before I forget, be sure to hit ESPN.com and hit the College Sports page under the ESPNU heading. Mark Schlabach came to Auburn a few weeks ago after hearing about the team shaving their heads in support of Joseph Sanders and his family. Great story by Mark and if you look today, it is the main story on that page, titled 'The Big Give.'

PREGAME: 4:50 PM
Welcome to Regions Park (formerly the Hoover Met) for tonight's Auburn-Samford Baseball Classic. Site of the SEC Baseball Tournament, Auburn and Samford have met at Regions in each of the last two seasons and always have a good turnout for the matchup.

For those that haven't been to Regions before, it is the home of the Birmingham Barons, the AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox - and it is classic minor league park with advertisements adorning the outfield wall everywhere but in the batter's eye in dead center.

New this year is a big-screen scoreboard/videoboard in right field to replace the old one, and it is huge! I don't have exact diminsions right now, but will be sure to get them.

Many on the Auburn baseball team have played here before, but most have been on the gridiron. Just last night during postgame Trent Mummey talked about playing here and patrolling the rather large outfield (340' down the lines and 405' to dead center

"It's going to be real fun playing at the Met. I grew up looking forward to playing there and playing in front of a big crowd and a bunch a family," Mummey said.

Here is Auburn's lineup for the night - the same as last night with one change - Tony Caldwell will catch instead of Ryan Jenkins
Mummey...CF
Hargett...2B
Bianucci...RF
Morris...1B
Sanders...3B
Patterson...DH
Fletcher...LF
Caldwell...C
Hall...SS
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Luckie...P

by Dan Froehlich, Auburn Media Relations