STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — Bryce Chance hit a first-inning grand slam and drove in five runs as Mississippi State defeated Auburn 10-3 on Thursday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium.

The Bulldogs improved to 38-12 overall, 17-8 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers fell to 33-15 overall, 14-11 in the SEC.

Chance’s blast came with one out in the bottom of the first inning after Mississippi State had loaded the bases on a single by Nolan Bevis, a single by Luke Sullivan and a walk to Jacob Parker. Chance drove a pitch from Auburn starter Jake Marciano over the left-field wall for his 12th home run of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. It was the decisive blow in a game Mississippi State never trailed.

Auburn scratched back in the top of the second when Bub Terrell hit a solo homer to left field, his ninth of the year, to cut the deficit to 4-1. But Mississippi State answered in the bottom of the third when Tomas Valincius singled through the left side, driving in Sullivan to push the lead back to four runs.

The Tigers pulled within 5-2 in the top of the fifth. Evan Bingaman singled and stole second, then scored on a single by Cooper McCraine. McCraine advanced to third on a throwing error by Valincius on a pickoff attempt but was stranded.

Mississippi State broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. Chance doubled to left-center, scoring Sullivan for a 6-2 lead. The Bulldogs then exploded for four runs in the sixth. Gehrig Frei hit a two-run homer down the right-field line, his 10th, scoring Brody Woodson. Later in the inning, Parker added a solo homer to right for his eighth, making it 9-2. Mississippi State added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Woodson to push the advantage to 10-2.

Auburn’s final run came in the top of the seventh when Terrell hit a two-run homer to left, his second of the game and 10th of the season, scoring Carter Rembert. But Mississippi State reliever Jack Bauer shut down the Tigers over the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing no hits and striking out two.

Valincius earned the win, pitching 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs while striking out 13. Marciano took the loss, giving up four earned runs in two innings.

Mississippi State outhit Auburn 16-4. Chance finished 3 for 5 with a double, a home run, and five RBIs. Frei was 2 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs. Parker went 1 for 3 with a homer and an RBI. Sullivan had three hits.

For Auburn, Terrell was 1 for 3 with two homers and two RBIs. McCraine had the team’s only other hit, a single.

The game featured strong relief from both sides. Auburn’s Abe Chancellor threw 1 1/3 perfect innings with one strikeout. LJ Cormier allowed three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings with five strikeouts. Ethan Harden surrendered one earned run in two-thirds of an inning.

The Bulldogs’ early barrage proved decisive. After Chance’s grand slam, Mississippi State never allowed Auburn to mount a serious threat, capitalizing on a 16-hit attack.

Mississippi State’s bullpen was effective after Valincius left in the seventh. Bauer retired all seven batters he faced. Louisiana native Chance continued his torrid stretch, having homered in two consecutive games and collected hits in eight of his past 10 contests entering the series opener.

The teams will meet again Friday at the same venue for game two of the three-game series, followed by a Saturday finale.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Mississippi State 7, Auburn 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Bulldogs a 57 percent probability to win. Mississippi State entered the game as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs.