AUBURN | Kason Howell and Bobby Peirce came into the ninth inning a combined 1 of 8 with three strikeouts. They ended it with two of Auburn’s biggest hits of the season.

Howell hit a two-out double to drive in the tying run and Pierce followed a batter later with a 3-run home run to give the 19th-ranked Tigers a dramatic 8-6 win over No. 1 Tennessee Saturday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

“I was really frustrated yesterday and even today. Just really wasn’t able to do a whole lot,” Peirce told the Auburn Network. “I had teammates, coaches just saying, ‘Hey, stick with it. You’re going to get a big one late in the game.’ Sure enough, I came up with two outs to take the lead.

“It was pretty awesome. I’ve never felt anything like it. That’s for sure.”

Nate LaRue got the ninth-inning rally started with a leadoff single. He was lifted for pinch runner Bryson Ware, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cole Foster.

After a groundout, Howell drove the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a double to score Ware and tie the game 5-5.

UT closer Redmond Walsh intentionally walked Sonny DiChiara, who hit a 2-run home run earlier in the game, bringing up Peirce, who fouled off four straight pitches before driving a slider up in the zone well over the left field wall for his third home run of the season.

“Kason Howell, who has gotten out some these first two games, when it mattered most, the senior hooks it up,” AU coach Butch Thompson told the Auburn Network. “Bobby Peirce, I felt like he was going to put it in play because he just fouled it, fouled it. He fought the whole at-bat and it put him right on it there for the home run.

Cortland Lawson led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to cut AU’s lead to 8-6, but Konner Copeland (3-0) retired three of the next four batters to earn the win.

Copeland held the Volunteers to a run on three hits over the final 2.0 innings. He struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.

“The atmosphere and everything was crazy. I had some adrenaline but just wouldn’t give in to the situation and let it get out of control,” Copeland told the Auburn Network.

AU starter Trace Bright allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits in 5.2 innings. He struck out eight and issued two walks. Chase Allsup followed allowing a run on two hits in 1.1 innings.

“Trace Bright took the slider out and went with a curveball and changeup tonight,” said Thompson. “We threw a ton of changeups. They just didn’t see any last night. It actually worked.

“Chase Allsup came in at a big moment. They didn’t just run away and bully us and beat us up tonight.”

It was a tight game throughout.

The Volunteers took a 1-0 lead in the first before Auburn tied it in the third as Blake Rambusch walked, stole second and third base, and scored on a wild pitch.

After going behind 2-1, Auburn went up 4-2 in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Howell and a 2-run home run by DiChiara. UT tied it back up 4-4 in the sixth, scoring both runs on wild pitches, and took a 5-4 lead in the seventh on two-out, RBI-single by Drew Gilbert.

Auburn, which improves to 31-13 overall and 12-8 in the SEC, will play the series finale Sunday at noon CT on SECN+/ESPN+.

“We’ve got Joseph Gonzalez going and we’ve got a chance to win a series on the road like we’ve done a lot this year,” said Thompson. “We’ve got great bounce-back and we’ve had great confidence in game three. I’ll show up to the park as excited as I am everyday.”