Niko Buentello homers, but Auburn baseball falls 6-4

Box Score

April 22, 2016

Box Score

11890340.jpeg
Niko Buentello hit his ninth home run of the season on Friday. (Auburn Photo)

Related Links




OXFORD, Miss. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Niko Buentello hit his ninth home run of the season, but Auburn baseball fell 6-4 on Friday night at Swayze Field.

"Niko Buentello hit a big one. We were scrambling to get back in there and he hits one out to draw us back even," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Cole pitched great tonight. We mixed in some more change ups tonight and I think they really only hit two balls hard. We were in there right until the last out. We had a chance and that's the hump we've got to get over."

Buentello's ninth home run of the season tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth. The 2-run shot gave him 42 RBI for the season, the most for a Tiger since Casey McElroy had 53 in 2011.

His nine homers are tops for an Auburn hitter since 2011 (McElroy, 11).

Auburn junior Cole Lipscomb turned in a quality start for Auburn. He allowed just two runs in six innings with four strikeouts and one walk.

The Rebels scored four runs in the seventh with four 2-out hits, a walk and an error. All four runs were charged to reliever Gabe Klobosits. He took the loss to drop to 2-3.

Auburn (18-20, 5-11) got a run back in the eighth on a sac fly by Jackson Burgreen to close to 6-3.

Ole Miss' Brady Bramlett allowed two runs in six innings with six strikeouts. Buentello's homer were the first runs allowed by Bramblett in 18 innings.

Ole Miss (29-10, 8-8) took a 1-0 lead in the second on a RBI single by Henri Lartigue. The Rebels got another in the fourth on a fielder's choice for a 2-0 advantage.

Buentello reached base three times with a double and a homer. Jordan Ebert and Anfernee Grier each added two hits.

Auburn got a run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk to Ebert, but could manage nothing else.

Brady Feigl (1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K) got the win for the Rebels. He improved to 3-0 on the season. Will Stokes pitched the final inning for his fifth save.

Auburn and Ole Miss continue the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network.