STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — Alex Petrovic carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Auburn’s offense erupted for 13 runs as the Tigers defeated Mississippi State 13-2 in seven innings Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium.

Petrovic, a right-hander, worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing no hits, two earned runs and striking out four. He faced the minimum through four innings before a pair of singles and a two-run homer by Ace Reese ended his no-hit bid in the fifth. Ryan Hetzler relieved Petrovic and tossed 1 2/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts to close out the Southeastern Conference contest.

Auburn improved to 35-15 overall, evening the weekend series after a 5-4 win Friday. Mississippi State fell to 38-14.

The Tigers struck first in the second inning. Chris Rembert led off with a solo home run to left field. Ethin Bingaman reached on a fielding error by shortstop, advanced on a groundout and scored on a throwing error during a pickoff attempt after Brayden McCraine singled and stole second.

Auburn added a run in the third when Eric Guevara doubled, stole third and scored on a groundout by Cade Fralick.

The game broke open in the fifth. With the Tigers leading 2-0, Brayden Carter singled and stole third. Guevara singled up the middle to drive in Carter, then advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Rembert singled up the middle to score Guevara and McCraine for a 4-0 lead. Bingaman followed with a two-run homer down the left-field line, scoring Rembert, to make it 6-0.

Mississippi State answered in the bottom half. Kamden Frei singled up the middle, and Reese crushed a two-run homer to center field after a review for possible fan interference upheld the call. Petrovic then retired the next two batters to limit the damage to 6-2.

Auburn blew the game open in the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Guevara doubled down the third-base line, clearing the bases. Fralick singled up the middle to score Guevara, then advanced on a balk that also brought home another run. Rembert walked, stole second, and the Tigers eventually added a run in the seventh on a single by McCraine that scored Carter, who had singled and stolen second.

In total, Auburn collected 14 hits. Guevara went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Rembert was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Bingaman finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. McCraine went 2-for-4 with an RBI. The Tigers grounded into two double plays but also stole four bases.

For Mississippi State, Reese went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Frei had three hits. The Bulldogs managed nine hits but left six runners on base. Mississippi State pitchers issued four walks and hit two batters. Dane Burns took the loss, allowing three earned runs on three hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Petrovic’s outing was a bounce-back from his previous start May 3 at Texas A&M, when he allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 4-3 loss.

The most critical sequence occurred in the top of the fifth, when Auburn turned a 2-0 lead into a 6-0 advantage with four runs on four hits, including Rembert’s two-run single and Bingaman’s two-run homer. That burst effectively put the game out of reach, as Mississippi State’s only response was Reese’s two-run blast.

Auburn won despite being projected as the underdog. Interstat’s game simulator had projected Mississippi State 7, Auburn 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave Mississippi State a 57.30 percent probability to win, and the Bulldogs were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5.

The series concludes Sunday. Auburn next travels to Jacksonville State on Tuesday, while Mississippi State visits Texas A&M on Thursday.