AUBURN | Auburn finally got on the right side of a one-run game.

The Tigers got a key insurance run in the eighth inning and hung on for a 5-4 win over Alabama Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, ending a six-game SEC losing streak.

Auburn, which improves to 14-17 overall and 2-12 in the conference, is now 2-7 in one-run SEC games.

“That was the message today: We know we’re going to play hard. Let’s play to win tonight, and it’s good to see it happen,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson told the Auburn Network.

Carson Swilling earned his first career save holding the Tide to one unearned run over the final 2.0 innings. UA got a run home in the bottom of the ninth on a sharp-hit ball that was ruled an error by second baseman Brody Moore, but Swilling struck out the next batter to give AU its first first conference win since the opener of the Arkansas series April 1.

“Twice this week Carson Swilling has taken the ball late in a ballgame, at Georgia Tech and tonight, and really believed in his fastball,” Thompson said. “Took the mound the way you need to late in a game, which we haven’t done enough of this year. He’s done it twice this week and that’s how we got a win on the road in the SEC.”

Moore led off the eighth with a double and scored on a a throwing throwing error by relief pitcher Connor Shamblin to put AU up 5-3.

Jack Owen (1-2) earned his first win of the season holding Alabama to three runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out eight including five straight from the fifth through the seventh innings. He walked just one batter on a season-high 98 pitches.

“It feels really good. I’m glad we could do it for the whole team,” Owen told the Auburn Network. “It was kind of a big game we needed to win. Swilling comes in and does his job. Offense did a really good job. Steven (Williams) was working really well with me tonight. So it was really fun and I’m glad we got the W.”

Auburn broke out to a 3-0 lead as Tyler Miller hit a solo home run in the first inning and Bryson Ware a two-out, two-run home run in the second. The Tide answered with a run in the second before Williams hit a solo home run in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-1.

UA cut AU’s lead to 4-3 with two runs in the fifth and it stayed that way until the eighth.

Kason Howell was 2 of 3 with one run scored and Miller 2 of 5 with one RBI as eight of AU's nine starters had at least one hit.

“It was good to finally get a result that we know we should've had in the past,” Howell told the Auburn Network. “All the hard work we’ve put in and all the close calls, it felt like it was our night to get what we honestly deserve after everything that we’ve been through.

“It felt really, really good. You heard us in the dugout there.”

The Tide won game one 8-7 in 10 innings Thursday night. The rubber game of series will be Saturday at 4 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.