AUBURN | It was starting pitching in the first two games. Game three belonged to the bullpen, particularly Elliott Anderson.

The junior left-hander allowed a run on three hits to lead No. 18 Auburn to an 8-4 win over Cincinnati and a sweep of Saturday’s doubleheader and the three-game series.

"I thought Elliott just showed some experience and savvy," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "We kept him in there until the sinker quit sinking and they blasted a couple of balls. Then Brooks Fuller, I thought that was the most in-tune fastball that he had had in his early career. I thought he was 88, 89 and I thought every fastball was at the knees. He threw a couple of nice breaking balls."

Anderson (2-0) went a career-long 4.1 innings with six strikeouts and only one walk. He threw 69 pitches, 39 for strikes.

Fuller, a freshman left-hander, came on with a runner on second base and one out in the eighth and retired all five batters he faced to record his first-career save.

“We were just told to go out there and keep us in the ballgame and the hitters will come through. That’s just what I try to do every game,” Anderson said.

With the game tied 4-4, Ryan Bliss put the Tigers back on top with a solo shot over the left field wall, the first home run of his career.

Auburn added two more in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Kason Howell and a bases-loaded walk by Will Holland, one in the seventh as Howell scored from third base on a wild pitch and one in the eighth as Steven Williams scored from second base on a third-strike wild pitch for the second time in the game.

“I surprised myself with that tonight,” Williams said. “I’ve always thought I was a pretty fast guy. These guys don’t really think so but I was able to show off the speed tonight.”

Auburn starter Carson Skipper allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits in 3.0 innings. The freshman left-hander struck out four and didn’t issue a walk on 59 pitches.

The Bearcats broke on top 2-0 in the first, their first runs of the series before the Tigers answered with four in the bottom of the innings on a two-RBI double by Rankin Woley, an error to score Woley and a third-strike wild pitch to score Williams from second.

Woley was 2 of 5 with two RBI while Williams was 2 of 4 with three runs scored.

The Tigers, which won the opening two games of the series 5-0, improve to 9-2. Auburn struck out 37 batters during the series and issued just two walks. The Bearcats fall to 1-9.

Auburn hosts UT Martin for a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games begin at 4 p.m. CT on SECN+.