ATLANTA — No. 9 Auburn (23-10, 6-6) defeated No. 15 Georgia Tech (26-7) 9-8 in a back-and-forth game on Tuesday night. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead before the Yellow Jackets came back to take the lead. Auburn responded, however, to retake the lead in the eighth inning and secure the victory.
“We came out hot,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “Three of the last four games we’ve come out and played offense and we needed those late even if we didn’t get a lot done in the middle innings. When they got the lead we were still close enough to strike back.”
After Georgia Tech gave free passes to the first two Auburn batters in the top of the first, right fielder Ike Irish singled to load the bases, and first baseman Cooper McMurray hit a grand slam to give the Tigers a four-run lead. Georgia Tech would add one run in the bottom of the second and Tigers would strike back with a run in the top of the fifth.
Starting pitcher Christian Chatterton threw three innings allowing just one run on two hits. John Armstrong came in relief of Chatterton in the fourth throwing one scoreless frame. The rest of Auburn’s relievers would struggle, though.
The sixth inning was a challenging one for Auburn pitching. Georgia Tech scored six runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. The big inning from the Yellow Jackets gave them the lead heading into the seventh.
Auburn cut into the lead in the seventh with an RBI single from third baseman Eric Guevara. Then in the eighth inning, Auburn reclaimed the lead with a three-run inning on RBI singles from left fielder Bub Terrell and Ike Irish and an RBI double from shortstop Deric Fabian.
Georgia Tech would score one run in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut Auburn’s lead to one, but that would be it. Auburn would hold on to secure the victory and another top-25 victory.
Next up, Auburn returns home for a series against LSU. The first game of the series will be Friday and the first pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CT on the Auburn Sports Network and the SECN+.
