Jacob Urish
Sports reporter
After one week on the diamond, the Auburn Doubledays are playing .500 ball and are tied for fourth place in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League West Division.Â
Auburn opened its season with a 10-4 home win over the Geneva Red Wings behind some key situational hitting. Since then, the D'days are 1-2-1 in their last four games.
Following a 6-6 tie in 10 innings against the Newark Pilots on Friday, Auburn picked up its second victory with a 10-5 win over the Elmira Pioneers on Saturday.
But both teams responded by tagging the D'days with a loss to make them even-steven.Â
The Auburn Doubledays' Jed Stange-Tregear scores a run during the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings at Falcon Park June 5.
Scoring and fielding woesÂ
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In the D'days' five games so far this season, they have plated at least four runs in four — they were shutout by Newark on Sunday.Â
In both games against the Pioneers, Auburn jumped out to early four-run leads. It was able to drive in insurance runs in the first matchup to take home the win. However, it could not replicate that success in the next game. The D'days scored four runs in the first frame, but the Pioneers' own share of early offense propelled them to edge out Auburn, 7-5.
While its offense had trouble stacking runs after the first, mistakes on the defense's part helped Elmira drive in its own. The D'days committed three errors that led to a pair of unearned runs, which was ultimately a deciding factor in the two-run loss on Tuesday.
As its defense looks to clean up its mistakes, the D'days' offense will hope to generate runs in the latter half of games when they take on the Niagara Falls Americans in back-to-back contests on Thursday and Friday. The Americans have posted the fifth-best ERA (4.40) in the PGCBL over its five games this season.
Despite Mother Nature raining on their season-opening parade, the Auburn Doubledays delivered for their home crowd after a nearly 90-minute delay on Thursday.
Player of the week
Through 21 at-bats this season, St. Joseph's University's Kiernan Kehoe has been the D'days' top option at the plate.
He leads the team in batting average (.381), hits (eight) and slugging percentage (.476), while also posting five RBIs and a .857 OPS.
Kehoe has also picked up at least one hit in each of the D'Days' games so far. In their season-opening win over the Red Wings, he collected two hits and two RBIs.
Upcoming schedule
- 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12: at Niagara Falls Americans at Sal Maglie Stadium
- 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 13: vs. Niagara Falls Americans at Falcon Park
- 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14: at Newark Pilots at Colburn Park
- 4 p.m. Sunday, June 15: vs. Jamestown Tarp Skunks at Falcon Park (doubleheader)
- 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 17: at Batavia Muckdogs at Dwyer Stadium
- 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18: at Elmira Pioneers at Dunn FieldÂ
Gallery: Auburn Doubledays win home opener against Geneva
From left, Auburn Doubledays Nick Izzo, Jed Stange-Tregear, Josh Thompson and Tyler Vivacqua chat around their lockers as rain delays the start of their home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Fans buy tickets for the Auburn Doubledays' home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Georgie Edmunds waits out the rain under the bleachers before the start of the Auburn Doubledays' home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Geneva Red Wings players stop by the concession stand during a rain delay against the Auburn Doubledays in their home opener June 5 at Falcon Park.
The Auburn Doubledays wait out a rain delay in the clubhouse during their home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Carionna Hopkins seeks out autographs from Auburn Doubledays players before the start of their home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Carionna Hopkins seeks out autographs from Auburn Doubledays players before the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
The Auburn Doubledays' Brendan Smith tosses an autographed ball to Carionna Hopkins before the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Auburn Doubledays head coach Matthew Petrossi points out the ground rules during the meeting with the umpires and visiting coach at home plate before the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Auburn Doubledays batboy Hunter Emerson playfully steals one of the players' hats before the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
The Auburn Doubledays' Sam Fleming plays in left field at the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Auburn Doubledays batboy William Dean brings baseballs to the home plate umpire at the start of the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
Auburn Doubleday and former Maroon Owen Birchard starts on the mound during the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
The Auburn Doubledays' Jed Stange-Tregear scores a run during the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings at Falcon Park June 5.
The Auburn Doubledays' Jed Stange-Tregear, left, celebrates with Nick Izzo and Josh Thompson after scoring during the home opener against the Geneva Red Wings June 5 at Falcon Park.
The Auburn Doubledays play the Geneva Red Wings in their home opener June 5 at Falcon Park.
Sports reporter Jacob Urish can be reached at jacob.urish@lee.net or (315) 282-2288.
Jacob Urish
Sports reporter
