Auburn Baseball vs. South Carolina

Auburn infielder Josh Anthony celebrates a run against South Carolina with Auburn infielder Will Holland Friday, March 31, 2017, during an NCAA baseball game at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

(Julie Bennett)

Nothing has been able to slow Auburn's rise during Butch Thompson's second season -- not even injuries or the absence of one of the team's top pitchers.

Auburn took two of three from Mississippi State over the weekend, doing so without starting shortstop Luke Jarvis (back spasms) and starting pitcher Casey Mize (forearm soreness), to win a pivotal top-10 series that forced a tie atop the SEC standings.

It gave Auburn 10 series wins in 11 weekends this season, and it also propelled the Tigers even further up the national polls on Monday morning. Auburn moved up one spot in Baseball America's top 25 to No. 4, and the Tigers climbed two spots to No. 5 in the D1Baseball.com rankings.

The No. 4 rankings for Auburn in the Baseball America poll is the team's highest ranking this millennium. The last time the Tigers were ranked that high was on April 12, 1999, when they checked in at fourth.

Auburn is the highest-ranked SEC team in the Baseball America poll, while the Tigers are one spot behind fourth-ranked Kentucky -- which is also in a tie for first in the conference -- in D1Baseball.com's poll.

Auburn (32-14, 14-7 SEC) had no midweek game scheduled this week but will host rival Alabama for a three-game series at Plainsman Park this weekend.