Auburn somehow found a way Wednesday night to check another power-based milestone off its ever-growing list in this spring of uppercut swings.

Sophomore Brian Fletcher became the first Auburn player in 13 years to club three home runs in one game in the Tigers’ 12-7 victory over South Alabama at Plainsman Park.

Fletcher notched all three home runs in his first three at-bats, which gave him two chances to become the first player in Auburn history to hit four in a single game. Fletcher walked in the seventh inning and rapped a single in the eighth, forcing him to settle for a slump-busting 4-for-4 night.

“Some of the guys were just joking around and saying you want to do four,” said Fletcher, whose 12 home runs on the season put him at third on the team. “I was trying to keep it out of mind and trying to stay focused.”

That’s one of the few untouched milestones remaining.

Auburn (24-14, 7-8 SEC) has hit 79 home runs in 38 games, good for a two-plus homer per game average. More than 45 percent of the Tigers’ 282 runs have come via the longball.

“When we start hitting the ball, and the ball is up in the zone and the guys just feel confident, it just happens,” AU coach John Pawlowski said. “When we hit home runs it’s a contagious thing.”

Nine of the 12 came that way Wednesday night — and the Tigers wasted little time doing it in their sixth game with five or more home runs.

South Alabama, which shocked the Tigers on Tuesday in a 5-2 victory in Mobile, was on its third pitcher by the time it recorded its first out of the first inning. Eight straight Tigers reached base on their way to a six-run first inning.

Justin Hargett led off with a walk and Trent Mummey promptly followed with a two-run homer. Joseph Sanders hit a solo shot to left field on the very next pitch, which ended Brandon Brown’s day after three batters.

Fletcher’s first home run of the night, a three-run rope to left-center, followed by two more Auburn runners reaching base ended Michael Raia’s night.

The Tigers followed with three more runs in the second inning, when Sanders scored on a wild pitch and Fletcher hit his second home run, a two-run shot.

“Great to see him do that,” Pawlowski said.

Paul Burnside picked up his first win since April 20, 2007, with an up-and-down 5 1/3 innings of work. The senior righthander allowed five runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to go this deep in a game,” said Burnside, who missed most of the 2008 season with a broken collarbone. “It’s a little bit easier when your hitters put nine runs up in the first two innings.”

Despite the early power surge, Auburn’s spotty bullpen still had to get big outs late in the game.

Trailing 11-7, South Alabama had runners on first and third with no outs as it chased Zach Blatt. Austin Hubbard came to Blatt’s relief and struck out three consecutive Jaguars on his way to picking up his eighth save of the season.

Auburn picks up its conference schedule this weekend with a three-game series at South Carolina.

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