Luke Greinke’s return to Auburn’s starting rotation couldn’t have come at a better time.

It’s been a long season for the junior right-hander, who started the season as AU’s Friday-night starter. Since then, he’s been sidelined by shoulder tendonitis and struggled to regain his arm strength.

Last weekend, he wasn’t even on AU’s 25-man travel roster for a key Southeastern Conference series at Tuscaloosa.

But Sunday against Mississippi State, Greinke was back, in a big way. His outstanding performance — and plenty of offensive support — keyed a 12-2 Auburn victory.

“It’s been tough,” Greinke said of the season so far. “It’s been off and on. I’ve had some troubles.

“We have a good little stretch coming up. I hope I can help out to keep things going.”

The win keeps AU in the race for the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The Tigers (26-23, 10-14 SEC) are a game out of eighth place in the SEC. The top eight teams in the SEC standings qualify for the conference tournament.

Six games remain in Auburn’s SEC schedule, starting with next weekend’s series at Ole Miss.

“It’s like we’ve been talking about, the importance of winning series,” AU head coach Tom Slater said Sunday. “We’ve got to keep doing that, just keep trying to win series and keep ourselves in contention.

“I’m very proud of our ballclub today.”

It started with Greinke, who made the second SEC start of his career a game to remember.

He pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits, and didn’t walk a batter.

“It was my first time out there in a while, but I felt good,” he said. “I spent the last couple of weeks getting in shape.”

Former Central standout Bryan Woodall pitched the final three innings for Auburn, recording his 11th save.

Meanwhile, Auburn’s offense pounded Mississippi State’s pitchers.

Auburn scored five runs in the first six innings off MSU starter Justin Pigott (2-2). The Tigers put the game away with three runs in the seventh off reliever Andy Wilson to take an 8-2 lead.

After a Joseph Sanders RBI single in the eighth gave AU a 9-2 lead, freshman Brian Fletcher hit a three-run homer to finish the scoring.

Auburn’s Mike Bianucci hit a solo home run in the third inning to snap a 1-1 tie. Bianucci, who has homered in three consecutive games, is the first AU player to do so since Bobby Huddleston in 2002.

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