The Auburn T iger baseball team needed a series win to stay in the conference tournament race, and got just that this weekend by taking two of three games against the University of Mississippi.

It was the first series Auburn had won since March 29, 30, and 31 agai nst the University of Kentucky.

The Tigers were led this weekend by the big bat of sophomore Josh Etheredge and the solid arms of junior pitchers Finley Woodward and Tim Hudson.

Coach Hal Baird re-emphasized the importance of the series win. "We g et to live for another week Ñ we're still in the hunt."

Staying in the hunt started with a 15-4 romp by the Tigers on Friday night. Trailing 2-0 after four innings, the Auburn bats came to life for 15 runs during the next five innings.

Junior outfi elder Adam Sullivan got things started in the fifth with a run-scoring single.

The real damage was done when the Tigers put together two big rallies for a combined 12 runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Ole Miss' walks and timely hitting by fre shman infielders Chad Wandall and Jamie Kersh led to the big innings. Wandall hit a bases-loaded single in the sixth, which was later followed by another bases-loaded single by Kersh to put the Tigers up 6-2. Josh Etheredge hit his third grand slam of the season in the seventh to cap the two furious innings. The slam was Etheredge's 16th home run of the year.

In the field, strong defense and four Tiger pitchers held the Rebels to only three hits for the game.

Saturday the Auburn bats were quiete d by Ole Miss' Mickey Callaway in a six-hit, 6-0 shut out. Chad Wandall was the only Tiger to manage more than one hit off Callaway, who struck out 10 en route to his fifth victory of the season.

The heroes for Ole Miss were big hitters Joe Ignatious and Brad Henderson. Sophomore Bryan Hebson took the loss for Auburn.

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With the hard wind blowing, Baird, who was concerned throughout the game, said, "You never feel safe with the wind like it was today."

The Tigers' only scare came in the bottom of the ninth when the Rebels attempte d a comeback with a two-out bases-loaded single by Todd Mensik. Hudson came back strong and forced a weak groundball to end the contest. In the end, Baird said he was happy with the way the kids pitched.

In contrast to the pitchers, the Auburn hitters had no problem with the windy day. Josh Etheredge had another solid performance at the plate contributing two early RBI, while senior first baseman Dallan Ruch and senior catcher Kirby Clark both hit home runs for the Tigers.

Ruch's home run, his fir st of the year, was part of the four-run fourth inning which sealed the victory. Clark's home run came in the seventh and helped to pad the Tiger lead. It was his second of the year.

"This was a big win for us," Clark said. "If we keep playing like th is we'll be in the race."

After the series win in Oxford, Auburn stands a game behind Alabama and Vanderbilt in the race for the No. 8 spot in the SEC Tournament, which is just two weeks away. The Tigers face The University of Alabama on the weekend of May 10th.

This weekend Auburn hosts national powerhouse Louisiana State University in a crucial conference showdown. The team is anxiously awaiting the Bayou Bengals.

"LSU is always a big weekend. That's when we play best," Finley Woodward said S unday afternoon. The Tigers hope he is right.