AUBURN | Auburn came into Thursday night’s SEC opener against No. 1 Ole Miss with the conference’s best defense with a .988 fielding percentage. The Tigers had committed just seven errors in 17 games.

It all fell apart against the Rebels.

Auburn committed five errors and allowed seven unearned runs in a 13-6 loss to Ole Miss at Plainsman Park. AU falls to 13-5 on the season and 0-1 in the SEC.

"We just have to play cleaner baseball to beat the No. 1 team in America," said Auburn coach Butch Thompson.

Ten of the Rebels’ runs were scored in innings extended by runners reaching on a wild pitch, passed ball or error.

Ole Miss opened the first inning with a home run but Auburn went up in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run home run by Sonny DiChiara. OM answered with three more runs off AU starter Mason Barnett in the second but AU tied it right back up with a two-RBI double by Blake Rambusch.

The Rebels put the game away with a run in the third, two in the fourth and six in the sixth. Five of the nine runs were unearned.

“We matched. We were hanging in there,” Thompson said. “That sixth inning was the whole ballgame. Those five errors were tough to see unravel right there.”

AU added two more runs in the sixth on a solo home run by Ryan Dyal and an RBI single by DiChiara.

Barnett (1-1) took the loss allowing five runs on six hits, two walks and two wild pitches in 3.0 innings. Carson Skipper allowed five runs, one earned, in 2.2 innings and John Armstrong three runs, two earned, without recording an out. Carson Swilling held OM to two hits in 3.1 shutout innings to end the game.

“Swilling had the most survivable fastball of the evening,” Thompson said. “I thought his tempo was tremendous. He really seemed to get things going.”

Rambusch, DiChiara, Dyal and Brooks Carlson had two hits apiece.

Game two of the series will be Friday night at 6 p.m. CT and the series will conclude Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will be available on SECN+/ESPN+.