Troy used a five-run fifth inning and quality pitching to defeat in-state rival Auburn, 11-2, on Tuesday.

1,630 fans braved temperatures that dipped into the 30s. The crowd was the 20th largest in Troy baseball history.

Left-hander Ryan Sorce got the start on the mound, his first since the 2011 NCAA Regionals and earned the win throwing five innings striking out eight, a career high.

With the game tied, 2-2, Matthew Howard drew a one-out walk. Garrett Pitts single the Josh McDorman followed with a walk to load the bases. Ali Knowles grounded a ball to Auburn second baseman Mitchell Self, who threw the ball into left field in an attempt to start an inning-ending double play. Two runs scored on the miscue giving the Trojans a 4-2 advantage. Tyler Vaughn followed with an RBI single and Pierce hit a two-RBI double down the left field line to open up a 7-2 Troy lead.

The Trojans (16-7, 3-3 Sun Belt) added four more runs in the eighth to cap the scoring.

Auburn (15-10, 0-6 SEC) committed four errors in the contest.

Troy would pound out 10 hits and was lead at the plate by Vaughn, Howard and Pitts, who had two hits each. It was the 11th time in 23 games that Troy picked up 10 hits. It was the ninth time this season that Troy finished with double-digit runs.

Auburn took an early lead on a one-out Jordan Ebert solo home run in the first inning.

Troy answered in the bottom half with a pair of runs. Pitts and Howard picked up RBI single in the inning.

Trey Cochran-Gill (0-1) suffered the loss for Auburn after he allowed five runs – one earned – on three hits in 1.1 innings of work. Six Auburn pitches combined to walk eight batters and hit two others.

The win marked the largest margin of victory by Troy in the series.

Troy returns to Sun Belt Conference action this weekend with a three-game series against Middle Tennessee at Riddle-Pace Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.