MOBILE, Ala. ? The University of South Alabama was unable to overcome a huge offensive explosion by the Auburn Tigers, as the Jags fell by a final score of 20-5 in the Championship Game of the 2007 Coca-Cola Classic, at Stanky Field Sunday afternoon.
With the win Auburn improves to 10-1 on the season, while South Alabama falls to 4-4. Left-hander Evan Crawford picked up the win for Auburn and is now 2-0 on the season. Brandon Sage took the loss for USA and is now 0-2.
Auburn was able to score 20 runs on 16 hits to defeat the Jags and take home the tournament championship. Tiger left fielder Mike Bianucci was named as the tournament’s MVP. Bianucci went 8-for-12 with two home runs and seven RBIs.
“I am really hurting for the players, they really wanted this game so bad. I hate it for the fans too, they paid to see a good game and we didn’t give it to them,” said Jaguar head coach Steve Kittrell. “But it wasn’t because our guys didn’t give it all they had, I think we were really ready to play, but we ran into a buzz saw.”
South Alabama gave up seven runs in the top half of the first inning thanks to an opposite field grand slam by Eric Skinner. Sage was saddled with the loss, as he lasted just 0.2 innings. Kevin Nabors came on in relief and didn’t fair much better, going three innings, allowing nine runs (six earned). The Jags never could recover from the early deficit which Auburn continued to add to throughout the game.
South Alabama had two bright spots in the game, as both Joel Collins and Jeff Cunningham each connected for home runs. Cunningham and Collins both went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Next up for South Alabama is an important stretch of six games in six days. The Jags will host Siena on Tuesday night at 6 p.m., followed by afternoon games on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday’s game time has been changed to 2 p.m. in order to allow fans to attend the South Alabama women’s basketball first round Sun Belt Tournament game on Wednesday night. Thursday’s game is at 2 p.m. in order to accommodate Siena’s travel schedule.
The Jags will then take on Connecticut for a three game series on Friday night at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tickets for all Jag baseball games are available at the gate or can be purchased by calling the USA Ticket Office at (251) 460-6047. Live Stats can also be accessed by logging onto www.usajaguars.com
