AUBURN, Ala. — Ethan Small came up big for Mississippi State on Saturday.

The sophomore left-hander allowed two runs and struck out seven in seven innings, and the Bulldogs backed him by scoring five runs in the third inning as they beat Auburn 7-2.

The victory evened the three-game series at one win apiece, with the finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Mississippi State (19-17, 5-9 Southeastern Conference) can win back-to-back SEC series for the first time this season and climb out of last place in the league standings with a victory Sunday.

“There were a lot of good things in this game,” Mississippi State coach Gary Henderson said. “We had some key extra-base hits with runners on. Ethan Small found his rhythm in the fourth inning and it was huge that he could knock out seven innings for us. It was a good win for us all the way around against a great offensive team.”

Six of Mississippi State’s 11 hits were doubles. Two of those came in the third inning, when the Bulldogs blew it open.

Tanner Allen doubled to put runners at second and third, and both scored on Hunter Stovall’s single to center field. Later in the inning, Marshall Gilbert hit a bases-clearing double to right center to make it 5-0.

Rowdey Jordan doubled and scored on a single by Jake Mangum in the fourth inning, and Stovall delivered another RBI single to put MSU ahead 7-2.

Stovall finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs for Mississippi State, while Jordan had two hits — both doubles — and scored a run. J.P. France pitched two innings of scoreless relief after taking over for Small (3-3).

Steven Williams went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Auburn, and Edouard Julien had an RBI single.

Auburn (24-12, 5-9) had gotten two runs in the third inning, but none the rest of the way. The Tigers are now in danger of losing their fourth consecutive SEC series and have dropped 11 of their last 16 games overall.

“We have to keep working” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “We need to come back and understand that tomorrow is the defining game in the series that we need. We’ve got to look each other in the eye, execute the ballgame and find a way tomorrow.”