AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn pitched a shutout and only allowed two hits against a top-10 offense on their way to a 1-0 win over Georgia Tech. The great pitching performance mitigated what had been a disappointing night for Auburn when batting with runners on.
After a 9-8 slugfest at Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, hardly anyone saw a pitcher's duel coming tonight at Plainsman Park, but Auburn's pitchers were able to pound the strike zone, leading to 12 Ks against the Yellow Jackets Tuesday night.
“I think it’s just what (Butch Thompson) talks about. It’s just pound the zone, just trusting our stuff, and when we throw in the zone, good things happen.” said freshman Christian Chatterton, who pitched four hitless innings to start the game.
John Armstrong would then come in relief and strikeout out three batters in two innings of work. Carson Myers would be next and was borderline untouchable, he struck out four of the six batters he faced over the two innings he pitched. Lastly, Tilly was able to settle in and get the save after walking and hitting a batter.
While the pitching staff had an excellent performance, the offense was frustrating to say the least. Auburn was able to get guys on early every inning, but a brutal 1-16 with runners in scoring position limited the Tigers run production to a bases loaded walk in the second inning. Several times, hits that seemed destined to land instead found their way to a Yellow Jacket glove.
Butch Thompson believes that eventually the clutch hits will start coming for his lineup: “...we're getting on, we’re getting over, and eventually we’re going to get them in.”
They’ll look to get those bats going at home this weekend as they host the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The first pitch of the series is set at 6 PM CDT and is available to watch on SEC Network+.
