Auburn fought hard to make it to Hoover, but it turned out to be a short trip.

No. 5 seed Ole Miss eliminated the 12th-seeded Tigers with a 7-4 win in Tuesday night’s opening round of the 2021 SEC Tournament.

Auburn finishes the season 25-27.

“I told them I appreciate their effort for us, especially the second half of conference play to give us an opportunity to be here tonight,” said coach Butch Thompson of an AU team that started 3-16 in the SEC before fighting back to finish 10-20.

The Rebels built an early 5-1 lead, but Auburn was able to chip away and cut it to 5-4 by the seventh inning.

Carson Skipper held Ole Miss scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before Hayden Dunhurst hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Rebel lead to 7-4

Ole Miss closer Taylor Broadway held AU to just one hit over the final 2.1 innings to earn his 13th save of the season.

Auburn starter Jack Owen (2-5) took the loss allowing five runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings. The senior left-hander struck out four and walked two on 63 pitches.

“In one unique way, I thought Jack had a better fastball tonight,” Thompson said. “Watching a couple of pitches because they had replay on the board, a couple of changeups especially vs. right-handed hitters that should be working away from them, cut in.”

OM starter Doug Nikhazy (9-2) earned the win holding AU to two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out seven and issued one walk on 96 pitches.

Ryan Bliss led off the first inning with a solo home run, but Nikhazy retired 14 straight batters before a two-out walk to Nate LaRue in the fifth. Judd Ward and Garrett Farquhar followed with back-to-back singles to bring LaRue home and cut the Rebel lead to 5-2.

Farquhar hit a two-out, RBI double in the seventh and then scored on a single by Bliss as AU cut the lead to 5-4.

Bliss was 2 of 4 with two RBI, hitting his 15th home run in the first. In only his fifth start of the season, Farquhar finished 2 of 4 with two RBI.

Joseph Gonzalez retired the only batter he faced in the third. Skipper allowed two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings. Will Morrison retired the final batter of the seventh and Cody Greenhill threw a scoreless eighth.

“I thought Carson Skipper gave us a chance,” said Thompson. “After Ole Miss had scored there in the third inning and Joseph Gonzalez got us out of a bases-loaded situation, Carson did nice job for three frames there. Really, until he got to a pitch count.”