May 17, 2016
Niko Buentello drove in two runs on Tuesday in the win over UAB. (Auburn Photo)
"I am proud of Daniel Sprinkle tonight. It was good for him to pitch so well," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Andrew Mitchell grew a lot tonight. We got some offense tonight when we needed it. It's a pretty good feeling to get a win in our last home game at Plainsman Park this season. We need to stay focused on this Vanderbilt series this weekend. We want to go out and win a game in that series as early as we can. We are going to see three great arms, but hopefully we can be competitive and give ourselves a chance to win this weekend."
Buentello had two RBI in the first three innings to give Auburn a 2-1 lead. He drove home Melvin Gray on a single in the first, then plated Jordan Ebert on a double in the third to increase his season RBI total to 52.
Gray added one RBI and two stolen bases.
Sprinkle pitched 5.1 hitless innings before allowing a pair of singles. He was lifted with two men on and one unearned run allowed back in the first inning.
Sprinkle retired 12 in a row from the first through the fifth as he improved to 2-1.
Andrew Mitchell finished the game with 3.2 scoreless to pick up his first career save. He allowed one hit with four strikeouts.
The Tigers scored a pair in the seventh on a RBI single from Gray and a sac fly by Ebert to widen their lead to 4-1.
Daniel Munger took the loss for UAB to fall to 0-2. The Blazers used six pitchers on the night.
Brewer Hicken had two hits.
Auburn closes the 2016 regular season Thursday-Saturday in a three-game series at Vanderbilt.