UPDATE (12:50 p.m.) And that's a wrap. Auburn wins 3-1. Here's the quickie story.

Austin Hubbard has his longest outing this year, pitching 4 2/3 shutout innings for the win.

Tigers play the loser of Alabama-Ole Miss tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.

We'll be back with post-game reactions in a little bit.
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UPDATE (12:40 p.m.) Tony Caldwell struck out swinging to end the inning. Auburn's up 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 12th. Austin Hubbard is still on the mound, despite having thrown 3 2/3 innings.

South Carolina has the top of its order coming up.
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UPDATE (12:37 p.m.) Auburn finally breaks through on Trent Mummey's bases loaded single. That makes it 3-1. Tigers are still rallying, with runners on second and third with one out.
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UPDATE (12:21 p.m.) Another jam, another escape. This time a single and wild pitch put Austin Hubbard up against it. He got a fly out and another out on a bunt attempt to send it to the 12th.

Hubbard's pitched 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball. It's his second-longest outing this year.
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UPDATE (12:12 p.m.) Auburn had a chance, getting a two-out double from Tony Caldwell on a ball the right fielder misplayed. But Dan Gamache struck out swinging to end the threat.

Hubbard still on the mound. He's already thrown 2 2/3 innings. Nobody has warmed up lately for the Tigers.
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UPDATE (12:03 p.m.) Austin Hubbard pitches out of a bases loaded jam, getting Adrian Morales to tap out back to him for the third out.

Due up for Auburn: Creede Simpson, Hunter Morris, Tony Caldwell.
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UPDATE (11:53 a.m.) Casey McElroy flied out deep to right. That was about the only threat for Auburn. We're heading to the bottom of the 10th. Hubbard still pitching for the Tigers.
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UPDATE (11:43 a.m.) Free baseball! Austin Hubbard set the Gamecocks down in order in the ninth. Three of his five outs have been Ks.

Casey McElroy, Justin Hargett and Justin Fradejas due up for the Tigers. My prediction: some bunts are coming.
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UPDATE (11:37 a.m.) Auburn goes down quietly in the ninth. Strikeout by pinch hitter Tony Caldwell, ground out by Dan Gamache, strikeout by Ryan Jenkins.

The SEC's top hitting team has two runs through 18 innings in the tournament. One the product of two bunts and another on a home run by a replacement player.
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UPDATE (11:30 a.m.) Auburn pitched out of a jam in the eighth. Austin Hubbard relieved Grant Dayton with one out and a runner on second. He got a line out and a strike out to send things to the ninth tied at 1-1.

Dayton pitched 7 1/3 innings, gave up one run on five hits. He struck out four.
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UPDATE (11:18 a.m.) South Carolina pulled Blake Cooper after 7 2/3 innings to get a lefty-lefty matchup with reliever Michael Roth against Hunter Morris and a runner on first. It worked. Morris flied out to center, ending the threat.

We're tied at 1-1 through 7 1/2. Grant Dayton's still in the game for Auburn.
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UPDATE (11:09 a.m.) Grant Dayton finally left a pitch up. South Carolinan's No. 7 hitter Brady Thomas launched it out to right for a solo home run to lead off the seventh. It was his eighth of the year and knotted things up at 1-1.

Dayton got the next three batters in order to send things into the eighth.
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UPDATE (10:58 a.m.) Grant Dayton is still cruising, taking advantage of the spacious outfield in Regions Park. He got three fly outs in the sixth. That's 12 fly ball outs today for Dayton. He has four strikeouts and has induced two ground outs.

He's thrown 79 pitches.
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UPDATE (10:53 a.m.) No runs for Auburn. Hunter Morris flied out to the warning track for, by my count, the 17th time in this tournament. The fences are 340 to the corners here. Plainsman Park is 331, I believe, to right. That's a big difference.

Blake Cooper's up to five strikeouts for South Carolina.
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UPDATE (10:48 a.m.) That's five scoreless innings for Dayton, who holds a 1-0 lead. He's given up three hits so far. Two are bunt singles by Whit Merrifield, who didn't do anything once he reached base.

That's 14 straight scoreless innings for the Gamecocks.
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UPDATE (10:38 a.m.) 1-2-3 fourth for Grant Dayton, who is up to four strikeouts. The Gamecocks have not scored in 13 innings in this tournament.
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UPDATE (10:30 a.m.): Auburn got on the board thanks to an injury replacement. Creede Simpson, who replaced Brian Fletcher (hand), clubbed a solo home run to left, just inside the foul pole.

It's Simpson's fourth home run this year and his first since April 4 against Alabama.
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UPDATE (10:24 a.m.) Grant Dayton pitches in and out of a third-inning jam, putting runners at the corners before getting Adrian Morales to fly out to center.

Dayton's allowed two hits, walked two and hit one in three innings, but he hasn't allowed a run.
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UPDATE (10:12 a.m.) Still nothing for Auburn. Justin Fradejas singled but was wiped out on a double play ball by Mummey.

South Carolina's Blake Cooper has given up three hits in three scoreless innings. He has one strikeout.
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UPDATE (10:02 a.m.) Big loss for Auburn. Brian Fletcher just left the game. He was hit on the hand by a pitch in the first inning and stayed in the game for a little while. Bruised hand is the official diagnosis. That's 20 home runs and 70 RBIs leaving the lineup. Not a good sign for the Tigers.

Creede Simpson replaced him in left.
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UPDATE (10:00 a.m.) No scoring for Auburn in the second. Dan Gamache crushed a ball that would have been a home run at Plainsman Park. Instead South Carolina right fielder Whit Merrifield made a running catch at the base of the wall to rob Gamache of extra bases.

That's two homers Gamache would have this week at a smaller ballpark. He hit one off the center field wall yesterday.
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UPDATE (9:54 a.m.) Justin Fradejas makes things adventurous in right field for Auburn, but he made a spectacular diving catch on a ball hit near the warning track by Christian Walker in the first.

Fradejas might have misjudged the ball initially, but backed up and dove, making an extended diving catch. We're still scoreless after the first.
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UPDATE (9:44 a.m.) And we're underway. No scoring for Auburn, although the Tigers put two runners on base in the first before Kevin Patterson flied out to left.

Brian Fletcher got hit by a pitch on his hand. It looked painful but he stayed in the game. That might be something to watch as the day progresses.
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UPDATE (8:54 a.m.) We've got lineups. Offensive stats are average-home runs-RBIs.

AUBURN (39-18)

1. RF Justin Fradejas (.354-1-26)
2. CF Trent Mummey (.376-15-45)
3. LF Brian Fletcher (.359-20-70)
4. 1B Hunter Morris (.392-20-67)
5. DH Kevin Patterson (.318-16-31)
6. 3B Dan Gamache (.403-7-34)
7. C Ryan Jenkins (.367-7-37)
8. SS Casey McElroy (.330-6-37)
9. 2B Justin Hargett (.323-2-32)

LHP Grant Dayton (8-2, 4.61 ERA, 56 K, 16 BB)

One change from yesterday: Gamache and McElroy swapped spots.

SOUTH CAROLINA (43-14)

1. RF Whit Merrifield (.326-12-36)
2. CF Jackie Bradley Jr. (.368-9-43)
3. 1B Christian Walker (.315-6-39)
4. DH Parker Bangs (.286-3-18)
5. 3B Adrian Morales (.280-5-45)
6. LF Adam Matthews (.321-7-29)
7. C Brady Thomas (.337-7-27)
8. SS Bobby Haney (.267-3-21)
9. 2B Scott Wingo (.273-9-28)

RHP Blake Cooper (10-1, 3.08 ERA, 82 K, 29 BB)

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UPDATE (8:42 a.m.) Here's the bracket again for those who are interested. The winner of today's game would play the loser of the Alabama-Ole Miss game Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

Also of note: Auburn will be the visitors today. The Tigers are wearing their blue uniforms.
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We're back for more SEC baseball tournament action here in Hoover, still a good hour and 15 minutes before second-seeded Auburn (39-18) plays third-seeded South Carolina (43-14).

After yesterday's traffic catastrophe, I'm glad to report there were no traffic problems getting to the stadium today. Barely even waited once I got off the highway. Of course, I arrived to and empty stadium and press box.

ANYWAY, I'm here to live blog Auburn's game against South Carolina. Winner keeps a shred of hope alive. Loser goes home.

The teams have something in common. A hot pitcher shut them down in the first round. As we wrote on this blog, Alabama's Jimmy Nelson was fantastic against Auburn. The Gamecocks had their own problems against Ole Miss' Drew Pomeranz.

(Fun fact from Wednesday that speaks volumes about the SEC's depth: the lower-seeded team won every game. LSU beat Florida and Vanderbilt beat Arkansas in the second session.)

Auburn will send Grant Dayton (8-2, 4.61 ERA) to the mound against South Carolina's Blake Cooper (10-1, 3.08). Dayton gave up five runs in 7 1/3 innings against the Gamecocks in Auburn's 10-6 win against South Carolina earlier this year. Cooper gave up four runs in seven innings in an 11-5 win against Auburn.

The Gamecocks won two of three in the teams' only series in Auburn.

I'll be back with more throughout the morning, so check back. And follow the blog on Twitter.