Auburn baseball secured the three-game sweep against Radford with a 6-0 victory Sunday, Feb. 22, at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers (6-2) scored six runs through five shutout innings before the game was called due to rain.
Auburn had eight hits through five innings while Radford had one.
“In this game I thought we were just really methodical about our business,” said head coach Sunny Golloway. “I felt like we were in pretty good control from the start. Even before the runs, we seemed to be hitting the ball pretty hard. We were a knock away from opening the thing up.”
The winning pitcher was right-hander Kevin Davis. He got stuck in some jams, but showed people he can pop the catcher’s mit when it was all said and done. The sophomore struck out five batters through 3 2/3 innings and allowed only one hit.
“What I saw was a guy who has got into some trouble in the past and not been able to get through it,” Golloway said. “I thought he made some improvments today because he got through a couple jams. I think coach Tom Holliday and his pitching staff got them to buy into what they want them to do.”
Jacob Milliman relieved Davis in with two on and two out in the fourth inning. The senior allowed no hits through four at-bats in his first career save.
“I really like where we are at,” Golloway said. “We hired Tome Holliday for a reason. We give him complete control of the pitching staff. We don’t question it. We don’t look up. He’s got that aspect of the game. He’s been doing it for a long time.”
Auburn’s leading-homerun hitter Jordan Ebert went 3-for-3 and hit his third homerun of the season.
“I came into this game and actually said I want three hits because I needed it,” Ebert said. “Anytime you can get a barrel on a ball with two strikes is nice, but for it to go over for a two-run homerun felt really good.”
Dating back to last season, sophomore Anfernee Grier extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Auburn’s first three runs came in the third inning.
After sophomore Blake Logan ripped a pitch under the third baseman’s glove for a single, sophomore Damon Haecker hit a sacrifice ground ball to the right side to put the Tigers on the board.
Next up was Ebert. The junior hit a two-run homerun with Grier on third base for his third homerun of the season and put the Tigers up 3-0.
“The biggest thing is I understand coach (Golloway’s) game now,” Ebert. “This is my second year under him. He plays a very specific game. Once you understand it it works. Last year me and a lot of guys didn’t understand his type of game. This year I understand what he wants and it really eases me.”
The tarp was pulled out for the rain delay in the fifth inning, but not before Auburn added three more runs.
Grier capitalized once again after a wild pitch allowed sophomore J.J. Shaffer to get into scoring position. Grier drove an RBI double to left field to improve the Tigers’ lead to 4-0.
Ebert had the hot bat once again to close out the fifth. The junior drove in two more Tigers with a blast to left field before the game was called.
Auburn will host Georgia Tech Tuesday, Feb. 24.
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