MSU-Aub: Friday night special

By Mark Etheridge - May 04, 2007

This is what Friday night in the SEC usually means: two solid starting pitchers holding the hit totals down.

Through five, we have six hits combined in our 2-1 MSU lead.

Auburn has gotten a superb pitching effort from sophomore Evan Crawford. Crawford was expected to be the staff ace but lost his spot in the rotation after some rocky starts. Two weeks ago he pitched well in relief in a loss to Alabama and followed that with a Friday start last weekend against Arkansas. He's pitched the way Auburn expected him to pitch before the season started tonight.

His effort is made even bigger considering the normal Tiger Friday guy Paul Burnside did not travel with the team due to injury. Leading slugger Mike Bianucci is also out of the lineup with an injured hamstring meaning two of Auburn's top three players (catcher Josh Donaldson is the other) are not playing.

MSU has gotten a solid effort from starter Chad Crosswhite. Since moving into the Friday role five weeks ago, Crosswhite has had just one shaky start (last week at Ole Miss). He's mowing them down again tonight.