AUBURN | It was the pitchers’ turn Wednesday.

A day after both teams combined for 24 runs on 28 hits, No. 18 Auburn beat UT Martin 2-0 as both teams combined for six hits at Plainsman Park.

In his first career start, Garrett Wade made the case for a much bigger role going forward. The freshman left-hander held the Skyhawks to one hit in 5.0 innings to move to 2-0 on the season. He struck out a career-high eight with just two walks.

“I was just trying to go out there and attack the strike zone and give us the best chance to win,” Wade said. “I felt comfortable out there from the first pitch so I wasn’t really nervous or anything so that helped out a lot and I had a lot of confidence in myself.”

Three pitchers combined to hold UT Martin to two hits over the final 4.0 innings with freshman left-hander Carson Skipper retiring the final seven batters of the game with five strikeouts to earn his second save of the season.

Junior right-hander Kyle Gray allowed a hit in 1.0 innings while freshman right-hander Will Morrison allowed a hit and a walk in 0.2 innings.

“We pitched well today, especially those bookends,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “Garrett Wade, we feeling like he’s been building, throwing more and more strikes since he’s been here … Five innings, one hit, not much more you could ask for.

“Of course Gray and Morrison helped us get there but I thought the second piece was Carson Skipper, an especially good bounce-back from game two start on Saturday where he gave up a few runs. He’s not blinking, he keeps coming with that same intent.”

Auburn made the most of its season-low three hits. The Tigers got on the board in the fourth as Conor Davis drove a ball over the Green Monster in left field for his second home run of the season.

Auburn added a run in the eighth as Matt Scheffler led off the inning with a single, moved to second on an error, third on a double-play groundout and came around to score on a two-out wild pitch.

Rankin Woley had Auburn’s only other hit of the day, a two-out single in the first.

UT Martin starter Austen Bullington (0-2) was the hard-luck loser holding Auburn to a run on two hits in 6.2 innings. The senior right-hander struck out six and issued three walks.

The Tigers improve to 11-2 on the season while the Skyhawks fall to 4-8.

Auburn is back in action this weekend for a three-game series against UTSA. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, Saturday 2 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. All three games will be on SECN+.