MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Senior third baseman Alex Kranick extended his hitting streak to 19 games as the Georgia Southwestern baseball team took one of three games against Auburn University at Montgomery over the weekend at the AUM Baseball Complex. GSW lost 10-6 on Friday in the opener, lost 6-2 in the doubleheader nightcap, but rallied on Saturday in the finale to win, 3-1.
The Hurricanes finished the weekend with a record of 12-17 and Auburn Montgomery sits at 13-15.
GSW returns to action on Wednesday with a 5 p.m. non-conference game at Valdosta State.
GAME 1: GSW 6, AUBURN MONTGOMERY 10
Errors, errors and more errors proved to be the downfall of the Hurricanes on Friday. GSW committed eight in the opening game of the doubleheader, four of which came in the first two innings.
Kranick wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 17 games as he led off the opener with a double and scored two batters later on a Will Redding single.
The GSW lead did not last long. Auburn Montgomery scored three in the bottom half of the first inning and four more in the second.
The Hurricanes would get no closer than four runs, after scoring two in the eighth, and that would prove to be the final score, 10-6.
GSW outhit the Warhawks, 13-12, and was led by Redding, who finished with three hits and a pair of RBIs. Kranick, Jonathan Martin, Josh Logan and Clay Patrick added two hits apiece.
GSW starting pitcher Kyle Spinks (1-3) went 4 1/3 innings before handing the ball over to Jarrod Crum for the final 3 2/3. Crum held Auburn Montgomery to one hit and one unearned run.
GAME 2: GSW 2, AUBURN MONTGOMERY 6 (7 INN.)
The nightcap of Friday's doubleheader was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when Auburn Montgomery pushed across a pair of runs. The second run scored with an assist off a GSW error, the first of five the Hurricanes would commit in Game 2.
Kranick singled in the fifth to push his hitting streak to 18 games and scored two batters later off a two-run single from Redding.
Auburn Montgomery regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, with the help of two GSW errors, and tacked on three runs in the sixth.
GSW outhit the Warhawks, 8-3. Kranick was the only Hurricanes batter to finish with multiple hits as he collected two.
GSW starting pitcher Dylan Brown (2-4) went 5 1/3 innings, held Auburn Montgomery to three hits and three earned runs, walked five and struck out two over 104 pitches. Mitch Holloway recorded the final two outs, striking out one.
GAME 3: GSW 3, AUBURN MONTGOMERY 1
Trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, Kranick reached base with two outs when the Auburn Montgomery left fielder misjudged a fly ball that went over his head, ruled an error, and allowed Kranick to end up at second base. Martin followed with a single to score Kranick and tie the game.
With two outs in the seventh, Kranick kept his hitting streak alive and knocked in the game-winning run with a single to right field. Logan opened the frame with a single and later stole second to move into position to score the go-ahead run. As seemed to be the case all weekend long, Redding plated Kranick with an RBI hit.
At 19 games, Kranick holds the second-longest hitting streak in program history since GSW joined the NCAA in 2007, one shy of the record.
GSW outhit Auburn Montgomery in the finale, 10-5, as Martin led the Hurricanes with a 3-for-4 performance. Redding and Logan added two hits apiece.
GSW starting pitcher Andrew Patrick did not factor into the decision, but held Auburn Montgomery to three hits and one run over 4 1/3 innings. He walked seven and struck out one. Coty Graham (1-0) kept the Warhawks off the board for 3 2/3 innings before Matt Hubbard picked up his first save of the season by retiring Auburn Montgomery in order in the ninth.