AUBURN - The magic number has been whittled to one.

Two Auburn Doubledays wins on Sunday against Williamsport mean the Doubledays need just one more victory to clinch the Pinckney Division for the fifth consecutive season.

Two big hits and great pitching helped give the Doubledays the 1-0 and 4-2 wins in the seven-inning doubleheader against the Crosscutters, the second doubleheader in five days the Doubledays have won over the Crosscutters. The first was Aug. 30 in Williamsport.

“At this stage of the season, every win is very important,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “If you play two and win two, that's just double the pleasure, double the fun. But they were both hard-fought games.”

Auburn scattered four hits in the first game, but Matt Liuzza's solo home run in the sixth inning was the game winner.

“I just took the first pitch, a fastball down the middle and (Crosscutters pitcher Jason Herman) was shaking so I had a feeling that he was going to try another fastball,” Liuzza said. “He lobbed it over the plate and I was just able to drive it.”

If not for Liuzza's blast to right-center field, the game might have gone into extra innings. Doubledays southpaw Wilfreddy Aguirre hurled his best game of the season with eight strikeouts and just four hits allowed. He lasted the entire first game and had a no-hitter through five innings. Patrick Bresnahan threw five strong innings for the Crosscutters, allowing three hits, two walks and fanning two batters.

“Aguirre was simply outstanding today, and their guy threw a heck of a ballgame too,” Holmberg said. “I was real impressed watching Aguirre pitch that first game, seeing what he was doing with his changeup and throwing strikes, and (Chris) Reddout started off that way too in the second game.”

Reddout (3-2) may not have out-pitched his teammate in the rainy second game, but he threw better than his opponent and that was good enough. Reddout went 5 1-3 innings, fanned three batters, and allowed all five of Williamsport's hits. Daniel Rios belted a two-RBI single in the fourth inning to score Albert Laboy and Alexander Presley for the Crosscutters only scores of the day. Reddout was taken out of the game in the next inning after walking Jared Keel to load the bases with one out. The Doubledays had just a one-run lead when Zach Dials came into the game.

“I had a lot of adrenaline and I was really pumped and just excited to come in,” Dials said. “We got right back out of the inning, which was great.”

A 6-4-3 double play killed all of the Crosscutters' momentum and was the first play in a Doubledays uniform for Luis Fernandez at second base, who was called up Aug. 31.

“Dials coming out of the bullpen was huge and to get that ground ball double play was the turning point in the game for us,” Holmberg said. “It gave us an emotional lift with (Jonathan) Diaz and Fernandez, who handled his first ball in Auburn under these conditions.”

It didn't take the Doubledays as long to score in the second game. Luke Hopkins ripped a two-run homer, his sixth of the year, to give Auburn an early lead. Hopkins now shares the team lead in home runs with Liuzza, who held the bragging rights for about an hour. Hopkins hit No. 5 last week to lead the team before Liuzza caught up to him an inning later.

“Me and Luke have a little thing now with the home runs,” Liuzza said. “I tied him the last time so I guess he paid me back today.”

Scott Campbell drove in Diaz in the third and Liuzza scored his second run on a wild pitch in the sixth to secure the win. Now all the Doubledays have to do is take a game in Jamestown today to earn their fifth straight division title.

“In the middle of the season, you would never have thought that we'd be here,” Liuzza said. “We were struggling, but we were talking about today how everyone has really improved, we know the game much better and we have a better approach at the plate and that's all you can ask for from the team.”