Its season suddenly slipping away, its postseason hopes in doubt, Mississippi State needed a miracle.

It got one.

Jaron Shepherd delivered an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night to give Mississippi State a 6-5 win over LSU.

Shepherd’s hit eliminated LSU from contention for a berth in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and gave the Bulldogs the inside track for one of the two remaining spots in the eight-team field. Earlier Friday night, Auburn became the sixth team to secure a bid by routing Tennessee. The other two teams in the hunt, Arkansas and Ole Miss, were rained out and will play a doubleheader today in Fayetteville.

LSU, which had won five in a row entering the game, needed to sweep this three-game series to have a chance at reaching the tournament. It won the opener on Thursday, 17-1, and got off to a good start in game two. Austin Nola doubled in a pair of runs during a four-run rally in the third inning that put the Tigers ahead 5-0.

Mississippi State chipped away at the deficit, though. Shepherd hit a solo homer in the third to put the Bulldogs on the board. Ryan Collins scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning and Adam Frazier delivered an RBI single in the fifth to make it 5-3.

In the seventh, C.T. Bradford led off with a double to right field and scored on a base hit by Jarrod Parks to make it a one-run game. Then, in the ninth, the Bulldogs rallied against LSU closer Matty Ott.

Jonathan Ogden led off with a base hit, then Bradford walked and Cody Freeman followed with another single. Ogden scored to tie the game, and Freeman moved up to second when LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook misplayed the ball. After an intentional walk to Jarrod Parks, Shepherd singled off the glove of second baseman JaCoby Jones to end it.

Despite the loss, LSU still has a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament. Its RPI is in the mid-20s and a balanced SEC might put 10 teams into the national tournament. The Tigers no longer control their own fate, however, something coach Paul Mainieri said was tough to take.

“This obviously is a very difficult loss because our players fought so hard to win this game,” Mainieri said. “This game doesn’t diminish what our players have accomplished over the past three weeks to put us in a position to get a postseason bid. We have to put this behind us as quickly as possible and regroup for a very big game tomorrow. I strongly believe we still have significant goals to within our reach.”

Auburn 13, Tennessee 4

Tony Caldwell went 3-for-6 with six RBIs, and Justin Hargett was 4-for-5 with four runs scored as Auburn (29-26, 14-15) crushed Tennessee (24-29, 6-23) to earn a spot in the SEC Tournament.

Auburn battered the Tennessee pitching staff for 18 hits. Five starters had multi-hit games and three had multi-RBI nights.

South Carolina 6, Alabama 3

Christian Walker drove in three runs and Peter Mooney, Scott Wingo and Evan Marzilli were a combined 9-for-14 with four runs scored and a pair of RBIs as South Carolina (43-12, 21-8) beat Alabama (32-23, 14-15).

With the victory, the Gamecoacks pulled back into a three-way tie with Florida and Vanderbilt for the SEC East lead. Florida lost 14-1 to Kentucky on Friday night, while Vanderbilt beat Georgia 9-3.