AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - The Tigers defeated UAB 6-5 on the road Tuesday night. They were led by two underclassman pitchers who combined to strike out a total of 15 batters, the most of any game this season.
Sophomore pitcher Joseph Gonzalez started the game off hot, making his first career start. He retired the first 15 batters faced striking out 7. After a tough sixth inning, which including UAB scoring 4 runs on just 3 hits as a result of a pair of walks and another pair of wild pitches, Hayden Mullins came in for relief and was able to record the last 12 outs of the game.
Despite the strong pitching from the pair of underclassmen, the Tigers found themselves down 4-2 going into the eighth. Auburn’s first three batters all reached base on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. Tyler Miller hit a sac fly to left field to bring in the first run before Brody Moore hit a 2-RBI single. The Tigers would score again on a UAB error, one of three on the day, to bring the score to 6-4.
“It was nice to see us come back in a ballgame… We hadn't had too many opportunities to do that this year and it was good to see from our offense," head coach Butch Thompson said.
The Tigers' batters were led by third baseman Rankin Woley as he went a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, which included scoring two runs. Bryson Ware went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run scored.
Auburn (8-4) will be back in Plainsman Park this weekend to host Little Rock (5-5) in a three-game series. Friday’s 4 p.m. CT game and Sunday’s 1 p.m. game will be broadcasted on SEC Network+, while Saturday’s 2 p.m. game will be on SEC Network.
