HOOVER, Ala. ― All Brooks Auger’s spectacular outing needed was two runs of support. Finally, in the ninth inning, Mississippi State baseball’s offense did its part.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Connor Hujsak drilled a two-run, walk-off homer, and the Bulldogs beat the Rebels, 2-1 on Tuesday at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

With the win, the fifth-seeded Bulldogs advance to the double-elimination bracket of the SEC Tournament, where they’ll play No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Wednesday (approx 8 p.m., SEC Network). Ole Miss, the tournament’s No. 12 seed, is eliminated.

The Ole Miss (27-29) and Mississippi State (37-19) pitching staffs combined for 24 strikeouts on the night, in a game dominated by the two starters and largely devoid of scoring chances.

Brooks Auger and Riley Maddox dominate for Mississippi State and Ole Miss

Twenty-four men stepped to the plate before Ole Miss’ Will Furniss homered to mark the first hit of the night for either side in the fifth inning.

Both starting pitchers were particularly overwhelming early. Auger struck out seven of the first 12 Rebels he faced. He did not throw his fifth pitch out of the strike zone until the fifth inning. Ole Miss struggled to catch up with his fastball and, perhaps consequentially, often flailed hopelessly at his breaking stuff.

Riley Maddox matched him for the Rebels. Maddox flummoxed Mississippi State with his sweeper, a breaking pitch he introduced three starts ago against Texas A&M to great effect.

Auger exited after the eighth inning, allowing just the one run while striking out 13 without issuing a walk. Of his 78 pitches, 66 were strikes.

Maddox turned in seven-plus scoreless frames while striking out seven. Liam Doyle entered to work out of a jam in the eighth before Hujsak's homer ruined his good work in the ninth.

Bulldogs can’t make threats count in middle innings

Two of Mississippi State's best scoring chances came in the fifth and sixth.

Amani Larry drilled a two-out double, then Maddox hit Logan Kohler with a pitch before a ball in the dirt moved both runners up. Maddox thwarted that threat by inducing a groundout.

The Bulldogs followed up in the sixth, when a single and a throwing error moved David Mershon to third base with two outs. Dakota Jordan launched a fly ball that Ethan Groff caught in front of the wall to end the threat.

Mississippi State’s ninth-inning heroics ensured the Bulldogs didn’t feel the full force of those missed chances.

What the result means for Rebels, Bulldogs

With their at-large regional hopes in flames after being swept by LSU last weekend, the Rebels are done for the season.

Mississippi State's push to host a regional could be bolstered by the win ‒ the Bulldogs' third over Ole Miss this season. Coach Chris Lemonis' team will have at least two more chances to impress the committee this week.

FULL UPDATES: Mississippi State vs Ole Miss baseball live score updates: Rivals in SEC tournament

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Connor Hujsak's walk-off homer lifts Mississippi State over Ole Miss