April 23, 2016
Melvin Gray had three hits on Saturday to lead Auburn. (Auburn Photo)
OXFORD, Miss. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Melvin Gray had three hits and freshman Daniel Sprinkle tossed 2.1 perfect relief innings, but Auburn baseball fell to No. 14 Ole Miss 7-4 on Saturday at Swayze Field.
"I tip my hat to Justin [Camp] the way he battled," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "I thought he changed some things and started throwing the fastball with more conviction. His command came back around. He really came back and gave us another three innings after the tough second. We are at a position where it was too much to catch up from, but the offense kept playing.
"Melvin [Gray] had a great day. He's really back-spinning the ball from right center to left center. What a great bunt. His speed is a great element for our offense. He did a good job for us."
Auburn starter Justin Camp got in trouble early, but battled through five innings. He allowed three earned runs on 10 hits, but just one went for extra bases. He dropped to 3-3 on the season.
Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a bases loaded ground out. Camp rallied to get the final two outs and avoid further damage. The Rebels widened their lead to 5-0 in the second.
Jackson Burgreen picked up a RBI to put Auburn on the board in the fourth, 5-1.
Auburn (18-21, 5-12) added a RBI single by Kyler Deese in the sixth inning.
David Parkinson improved to 2-1 after holding the Tigers to two runs in 5.1 innings pitched.
The Rebels (30-10, 9-8) tacked on single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Jonathan Foster picked up two RBI in the eighth for the Tigers with a 2-out single to close Auburn to 7-4.
Ryan Olenek had three hits and two RBI for Ole Miss.
Sprinkle entered in a jam in the sixth and got a strikeout. He retired all seven batters he faced.
Auburn and Ole Miss wrap the series on Sunday at 1 pm.