05/25 at 10:52 PM

HOOVER – Auburn plated three runs in the first inning off South Carolina starter Michael Roth in the first game of the SEC Tournament at Regions Park on Wednesday, equaling the highest number of runs any opponent had mustered against the Gamecocks ace in his 14 previous starts.

That was all the offense the Tigers would get.

Roth shut out Auburn on three hits the rest of the way, tossing the Gamecocks’ first complete game of the season in a 7-3 win that moved Auburn – potentially – one game closer to the end of its season.

The No. 8-seeded Tigers (29-28) play No. 5-seeded Georgia on Thursday at approximately 1 p.m. Auburn took two of three games from Georgia during the year, and the Bullodgs are in the same position as the Tigers, as they need three wins to become NCAA-eligible.

A win cements a plus-.500 record for Auburn, virtually assuring it a spot in the NCAA Tournament field.

A loss and its SEC Tournament run – not to mention its 2011 season – comes to an end.

“We try to play every game like it’s our last,” junior shortstop Casey McElroy said. “Now, potentially, this could be.”

All three of Auburn’s runs came across on two-out hits in the first, with Tony Caldwell smacking an RBI single up the middle and Kevin Patterson nestling a two-run double in the right-field corner to give the Tigers their early advantage.

None of the runs were earned because an error on a grounder by leadoff hitter Justin Fradejas prolonged the inning.

Roth (11-3), who entered the game with a 1.28 ERA, settled down in a big way after that.

Thanks, in part, to something his mother told him after he took a loss against Alabama last week.

“She was like, ‘You know what? You’re working a lot slower than I like for you to work,’” Roth recalled. “‘I want you to pick up the pace.’ That’s one of the best pieces of advice I could have gotten.

“I kept a good pace out there.”

South Carolina (45-12), the No. 1 seed, answered Auburn’s runs with three of its own in the bottom of the second on four straight hits to start the inning, ending in an Adrian Morales RBI double and a two-run double from Evan Marzilli.

The Gamecocks tacked on another run in the third on a Jake Williams RBI single – chasing Auburn starter Jon Luke Jacobs (1-5) – and scored another in the fourth on a Peter Mooney double to take a 5-3 lead.

Jacobs lasted three innings, giving up four runs on five hits. Four Auburn relievers combined to give up three runs on three hits over the final five innings.

South Carolina’s final two runs crossed the plate in the sixth, on an RBI single by pinch hitter DeSean Anderson and a sacrifice fly from Mooney.

“We tried to do everything we possibly could,” Tigers coach John Pawlowski said. “We went into the game thinking if Jon Luke struggled, we didn’t have time to waste. We ran a bunch of guys out there just trying to shut them down.”

Auburn found it increasingly tougher to get the bats going against Roth as the game wore on, managing only three singles after the first inning.

Roth retired the final 13 batters he faced and didn’t give up a hit past the fifth inning.

“After the first inning, we never really had an opportunity, I thought,” Pawlowski said. “Roth was outstanding.”

Williams went 2-for-4 for the Gamecocks, and Marzilli reached base in all four of his plate appearances with a double, single, hit batsman and walk.

Patterson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Tigers, who will throw junior Derek Varnadore (6-2, 3.75 ERA) against Georgia on Thursday with their season on the line.

“Our backs have been against the wall for quite a while,” Pawlowski said. “(Thursday) is another destination.

“We’re at a crossroads.”