TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Niko Buentello tied his career highs with three hits and four RBI as Auburn baseball defeated Alabama 8-1 Sunday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

"This was a good, solid win," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson. "This was a big one as our guys just keep battling. The resiliency of our team has been tremendous. I thought the runs we scored in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings were the difference. We kept scoring and that was huge for us. I'm really pleased with how came out and battled for a win."

Buentello had RBI in the first, third and ninth innings as he increased his season RBI total to 47, the most for an Auburn player since 2011.

Ben Braymer (W, 4-4) pitched a career-best 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and no walks. He allowed only one run on seven hits on a season-high 108 pitches.

Auburn (21-26, 8-16) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI double by Melvin Gray and a sac fly from Buentello.

Buentello picked up his fourth double of the weekend and drove in a pair in the third inning as Auburn widened its lead to 4-0. On a called play, Buentello came home on a delayed move after Damon Haecker broke for second to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead.

Jackson Burgreen followed with a walk to extend his career-best reached base streak to 17 games.

Anfernee Grier had two hits and a stolen base for the game.

Alabama (27-21, 12-12) got on the board in the fifth with Chance Vincent coming home on a wild pitch.

Daniel Robert (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R) and Daniel Sprinkle (1.0 IP, 0 R) closed out the game on the mound.

Auburn tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth on RBI singles by Melvin Gray and Kyler Deese.

Deese was 3-for-4. Gray tallied two hits, two RBI and a stolen base.

Nick Eicholtz was charged with the loss and dropped to 3-3. He allowed six runs on six hits in 6.1 innings.

Auburn is in action next on Tuesday when it hosts Troy at Plainsman Park.