AUBURN, Ala. — The safety squeeze came off Justin Fradejas’ bat a little too hard. Auburn’s Casey McElroy had taken only two steps from his lead at third by the time LSU first baseman Blake Dean gloved the ball and tossed it to the catcher.

But his throw was too high, allowing McElroy to sneak his hand to the plate in front of the tag with a head first slide.

Moments later, Auburn’s bench poured onto the field to celebrate an emotionally-charged 6-5 win against the No. 3 team in the country.

“I got lucky on the slide,” McElroy said. “It was pretty nerve-racking.”

The whole series was, but Auburn (22-11, 7-5 SEC) prevailed against the defending national champs in two of three games, winning a home series against LSU for the first time since 1998.

“It’s exciting for our club and obviously exciting for our fans,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “The kids stayed with it. They kept their game plan, and we kept finding a way to scratch for a run here and there.”

LSU (26-6, 8-4) had won 16 of its previous 17 regular season conference series.

The visiting Tigers made the home team earn this one. Auburn reliever Austin Hubbard (3-1), who had retired the first nine batters he faced, hung a slider on a 1-2 count in the top of the ninth that LSU’s Johnny Dishon slugged over the big wall in left to knot the game at 5. Dishon was hitting only .161 entering the game.

“It was supposed to be in the dirt,” Hubbard said. “I put it up on a tee for him.”

His teammates picked him up in the bottom of the inning, however. McElroy led off by slapping a double off LSU reliever Austin Ross (3-3) into the left-field corner. Kevin Patterson followed with a check swing single that dribbled through the hole between third and short, putting runners at the corners with no outs.

LSU went to closer Matty Ott and even brought in a fifth infielder to cut off the winning run, but Pawlowski decided during the pitching change to try the safety squeeze.

“I think Justin handles the bat, and I think that was our best option,” Pawlowski said. “If he didn’t do it on the first time, we were maybe going to try something else.”

Ott’s first pitch was on the outside corner and Fradejas bunted it toward Dean, a first-year first baseman who struggled to get the ball out of his glove.

“I thought he had him out by 20 feet if he just takes it out of his glove and gives an accurate flip into the catcher,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “He’s never had to make a play like that before in his life. ...

“I can’t say I was totally surprised by it. That guy has been bunting all weekend. If that’s what they felt was the best play, then that’s their prerogative to run a play like that.”

LSU might leave the series kicking itself. The visiting Tigers scored three times before making an out in the first off Auburn starter Grant Dayton but were foolishly caught stealing for the second out to prematurely kill the rally. Dayton escaped further damage by getting a fly out to strand a runner at third.

Auburn climbed back into the game thanks to solo home runs by Hunter Morris and Tony Caldwell. It took a 5-4 lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Patterson, who went 3-for-3.

The game tightened the race in the SEC West. LSU dropped into second place, a game back of 9-3 Arkansas. Auburn and Ole Miss are two games back at 7-5.

“Every win in SEC play is important, but I told our guys that we have to keep it all in perspective,” Pawlowski said. “And you keep it in perspective by understanding that this league is so tough.”