AUBURN | Auburn’s bullpen held on for a 6-5 win Thursday. It couldn’t repeat that performant a night later.

LSU scored five runs with two outs in the seventh inning and one more in the eighth to beat Auburn 9-2 Friday night at Alex Box Stadium and even the series 1-1.

Auburn falls to 18-9 overall and 4-4 in the SEC.

"I'm thankful to be 1-1 and a chance to go for the series tomorrow because we've only scored in two innings the last two days," AU coach Butch Thompson told the Auburn Network. "I just really thought we made a couple of bad pitches and they capitalized on them.

"So I thought it was more the of the pitching and then we had a couple of wild pitches, passed ball there, and I think that's more pitcher related. I just thought on the mound, we just lost our way a little bit."

After scoring two in the seventh to cut LSU’s lead to 3-2, the homesteading Tigers struck for five runs in the bottom of the inning on four hits, two walks, one error and one wild pitch.

LSU scored its ninth run on a wild pitch in the eighth.

AU starter Trace Bright (2-2) took the loss allowing three runs on four hits and four walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out six on 93 pitches.

Carson Swilling threw 1.2 scoreless innings before Chase Isbell allowed five runs on three hits and two walks in 0.2 innings and Mason Barnett a run in 1.0 innings.

AU’s lone runs came on a Blake Rambusch sacrifice fly and a Kason Howell two-out, RBI single.

Rambusch finished 2 of 4 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. Howell was 2 of 5 and Bobby Peirce 2 of 4.

Five LSU pitchers combined to strikeout 13 AU batters. AU stranded 11 base runners and hit .091 with runners in scoring position.

The rubber game of the series is Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.