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May 5, 2000
TUSCALOOSA, AL- Alabama scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie, to defeat 11th-ranked Auburn, 3-2, on Friday tonight. Auburn fell to 37-14 overall and 14-11 in the SEC while Alabama improved to 34-17 and 14-11 in conference play.
Brent Boyd's single drove in Casey Lambert and Kelley Gulledge scored Boyd with a single to give Alabama a 3-1 lead. Auburn scored a run in the ninth for the game's final 3-2 score after Mailon Kent led off with a single, advanced to third on two wild pitches, and scored on a fielder's choice by Brent Burnham.
After four innings of scoreless play, Auburn grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth. The Tigers managed a two out rally as Jonathan Schuerholz and Dominic Rich had back-to-back singles. Mailon Kent followed with a walk to load the bases, and Gabe Gross walked to score Schuerholz.
The Crimson Tide evened the score in the sixth on Brent Boyd's two-out infield single, scoring Scott McClanahan from third base. McClanahan led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a failed pick-off attempt by Auburn pitcher Levale Speigner. Casey Lambert's sacrifice bunt advanced McClanahan to third, before Boyd's run-scoring single.
Auburn stranded 13 base runners in the game while collecting 11 hits to Alabama's eight. Tiger reliever Brandon Mayfield (6-2) was charged with the loss after allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits. Freshman starter Levale Speigner had his best outing of the season, giving up one run and strucking out four in 5.1 innings.
Alabama pitcher Bryce Heath earned the win after allowing one run and two hits and striking out three in 2.0 innings of work. Starter Scott Murphy was not involved in the decision after striking out nine and giving up one run and nine hits in 7.0 innings.
Dominic Rich, Mailon Kent, Brett Burnham, Bobby Huddleston, and Jonathan Schuerholz each had two hits for Auburn.
Auburn clinched a spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament with LSU's 9-0 win over Kentucky in Lexington.
The Tigers and Tide will play tomorrow the second game of the series tomorrow, beginning at 3:15 pm CT, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Airtime on the Auburn Network set for 3:00 pm. You can listen to Auburn Baseball live in our Live Audio section.
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