In the final game of the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., Auburn beat University of Connecticut 7-3 Sunday.
Freshman standout Keegan Thompson earned his first win of his collegiate career, pitching 5.2 innings while also having nine strikeouts.
Thompson only gave up one run and two hits on the day.
"(Keegan was) really special," said Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway. "He had a lot more strikeouts than I would have liked to have seen. When you have to strike out a lot of people, your pitch count gets up. We went and got him at 99 pitches, but that allowed us to go to the bullpen."
Auburn's offense sparked in the third inning with four runs and four hits.
"We had some opportunities early," Golloway said. "We let some opportunities get away from us, but it's early in the season and we understand that. I thought we did a good job. We stepped on the gas and tried to steal some bases and do some things today to give us more opportunities, and that worked out. You've just got to put the ball in play sometimes, and that's what we were able to do."
Connecticut's first run came in the fifth when Griffin Garabedian had an RBI single, which turned out to be Thompson's only earned run.
Auburn responded in the sixth inning with two more runs thanks to a two-RBI hit by Damek Tomscha.
The Tigers' final run came in the seventh when Dan Glevenyak hit an RBI single.
Closer Terrance Dedrick came in for the four out save to end the game.
Auburn's next game is this Wednesday, Feb. 19, in their home opener against Alabama State.
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