OXFORD — Last weekend No. 16 Auburn clinched its first SEC Tournament berth in six years. On Friday night Auburn one-upped itself, pounding No. 17 Ole Miss for 19 hits in a decisive 18-4 win that clinched the program’s first SEC Western Division Championship since the 1995 season. The top hitting team in the SEC in both team batting average and home runs, Auburn collected 10 extra-base hits on the night, including five home runs, to move to 38-17, 19-10 in the SEC.

“The guys deserve this championship and winning the SEC West,” Auburn coach John Pawlowski said. “We have been swinging the bats well and we also pitched well. These guys came out today with an intensity level that has been consistent. We didn’t do anything differently.”

The 19 league wins represent the most in school history in the regular season, eclipsing the 18 won in both 1999 and 2008.

Auburn also clinched the second seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover and will play the first game of the day on Wednesday, at 9:30 a.m. Auburn’s opponent will be either Alabama or LSU, depending on Saturday’s outcomes.

Brian Fletcher went 3-for-6, including two home runs, and Ryan Jenkins was 4-for-6 with two doubles and a home run as Auburn scored 10 times in the first four innings to send the 7,192 fans at Oxford-University Stadium home early.

“Coming into the game, we had the West in back of our minds, but the guys knew we had to keep it simple and come out here and play and not try and do too much,” Fletcher said.

Slade Smith (3-0) picked up the win in relief, entering with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth and only one out. The freshman would throw the next 52⁄3 innings, surrendering a sacrifice fly in the fourth but keeping Ole Miss off the board the rest of the way, allowing five hits without issuing any walks and striking out five.

Dan Gamache put Auburn on the board first with a home run, this time sending a 1-2 pitch from Ole Miss (36-19, 16-13 SEC) starter Aaron Barrett (7-3) into the student section in right behind the Auburn bullpen. The homer drove in Jenkins, who had doubled to the wall in right-center in the previous at bat, to give Auburn a 2-0 advantage.

Auburn chased Barrett with two outs in the third as it scored four times to go up 6-0. Jenkins hit his seventh home run of the season, a three-run shot to left-center that scored Hunter Morris and Kevin Patterson, to give Auburn a five-run lead. Doubles by Gamache and Mummey sandwiched a Justin Hargett walk and scored the fourth run of the inning, sending Barrett to the dugout after surrendering seven hits and four walks in just 22⁄3 innings. Fletcher greeted Matt Tracy with a three-run home run of his own, his 19th of the season, to put Auburn up 9-0.

LSU 17, Miss. State 3

Austin Ross pitched eight solid innings while LSU continued to pound the Mississippi State pitching staff, as the LSU baseball team clinched a berth in the SEC Tournament at Alex Box Stadium.

Southern Miss-Memphis postponed

Southern Miss and Memphis played six complete innings before rain came into the area and forced game officials to suspend the game.

The game is in the top of the seventh with Memphis leading 5-3.

The two teams will pick up the suspended game tomorrow afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m.