STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 20 Auburn could only muster four hits off of the Mississippi State pitching staff, falling 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field. The loss dropped Auburn’s record to 14-10 and 2-4 in the SEC while Mississippi State is now 18-6 and 4-2 in the SEC.

“This was a frustrating weekend,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “We were outplayed this weekend. Give Mississippi State credit, they did a good job. When they got guys in scoring position they came up with the big hit. We didn’t have many chances offensively. We only had one leadoff guy on base. This is not the start or the weekend we wanted.”

Mississippi State, which had 10 hits on the afternoon — all singles — used five hits and a walk to break open the game in the fifth, scoring four runs in the inning. Jonathan Ogden, who finished the game 3-for-4, led off the inning with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt before Wes Thigpen’s RBI single made it 1-0. Jaron Shepherd’s single put runners in scoring position as Justin Fradejas couldn’t pick the ball up cleanly, allowing Shepherd to get to second and Thigpen to third. After a strikeout and a walk loaded the bases, Jarrod Parks singled home two and Cody Freeman singled in another to make it 4-0.

Mississippi State made it 5-0 in the sixth with an unearned run off of Ethan Wallen as Adam Frazier reached on an error, went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a fielder’s choice and scored as he stole home as part of a double-steal attempt, with Auburn failing to record an out on the play.

Derek Varnadore (3-1) took the loss for Auburn, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk in five innings, striking out five.

Daryl Norris (1-0) earned the win in relief, holding Auburn to just two hits and no walks over the final 5 1/3 innings, striking out two.

Dan Gamache finished the game with two hits for Auburn.

Casey McElroy finished the game 0-for-4, snapping his career-best hitting streak at 18 games.

Auburn returns home for a Tuesday game against in-state foe Troy. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park.