AUBURN | Two home runs off opposite foul poles. A gaggle of defensive errors and hit batters. A seven-run lead just three innings into the game for Mississippi State. A go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth by Bryson Ware. And, to cap it off, Cole Foster, who called his first four at-bats abysmal, delivered a walk-off RBI double to give Auburn a 12-11 victory over the Bulldogs.

It was that kind of day at Plainsman Park.

"I shortened up, got my hands through, got a barrel to the ball, and I was just happy with what happened," Foster said of his game-winning hit.

Auburn almost closed out the game in the top of the ninth, but after stopping a hard ground ball off the bat of David Mershon, Ware couldn't locate the ball underneath him, allowing Amani Larry to cross the plate to tie it up.

State jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings, but the bat of Cooper McMurray ignited Auburn's offense. The left-handed hitter hit a three-run dinger off the foul pole in right field in the bottom of the fourth. After the Bulldogs added two runs in the fifth, the first baseman hit the foul pole again, this time in left field, for a two-run jack to cut the lead to 9-5.

For Butch Thompson, it was something he hasn't seen in his long career.

"I have been coaching a long time and in a lot of dugouts, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball hit the fair pole twice," the coach said. "To hit the one in right field and left field was incredible."

In the same inning, Caden Green walked and reached second on a wild pitch before Nate LaRue smacked a two-run homer to make it 9-7.

"It’s unbelievable," Thompson said. "Our guys continue to hang in there. That’s the strongest thing I can say about our team, and I told them that after the game. I don’t talk to them a lot after a game, but they continue to do that for us."

To start the seventh, Ike Irish walked, and Bryson Ware and McMurray were hit by pitches to load the bases. Kason Howell just missed a grand slam with a long fly ball to left to drive in Irish. Green was then hit by a pitch to load the bases again, but LaRue and Chris Stanfield struck out to end the threat.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the first on a single by Kellum Clark. Chris Stanfield overran the ball in left field to allow two runs to score to make it 2-0. State put more runs up in the second on a Hunter Hines three-run homer over the wall in right-center to extend the lead to five.

Colton Ledbetter made it 7-0 with a two-run double in the bottom of the third.

McMurray finished with a game-high five RBIs while Ware drove in three, going 3-of-4 at the plate with a homer.

Konner Copeland (2-1) earned the victory for the Tigers, allowing no earned runs (two unearned) on three hits while fanning two over 4 1/3 frames. Zach Crotchfelt made the start for Auburn but was pulled from the game with a back injury after just 1 2/3 innings.