AUBURN, Ala. – No. 4 Auburn held No. 3 Georgia Tech to a season low in runs and hits in the Tigers 9-2 win in front of a midweek record crowd of 6,498 Tuesday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
The win extended Auburn’s streak to 11 games, the program’s longest since winning 15 straight games from Feb. 24-Mar. 22, 2019.
“I thought it was huge when they scored a run and we came right back and answered,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “Getting that one run in the bottom of the first was huge. Alvarez, Chatteron, Cormier; he just continues to grow every time he takes the field. The pitching has been really strong for us and has given us a chance each and every day over this stretch.”
Riding its win streak, Auburn improved to 18-2 on the season, marking just the fifth time in program history and third time under Thompson the Tigers have started a season 18-2 or better.
“Our people did an amazing job of rallying people to the ballpark,” Thompson added. “People are excited to see our guys play. To have the biggest midweek attendance ever continues to amaze me and impress me. Being back at home and them showing up like that for us today, absolutely it makes a big difference.”
The Yellow Jackets two runs came on three hits, both season low marks by totals of two apiece, while Andreas Alvarez’s start marked Auburn’s 10th straight in which the starting pitcher hasn’t allowed more than one earned run.
“Georgia Tech, you’ve got to give them their credit, they’re one of the best offenses in the country,” Alvarez said. "I feel like we did our job tonight. The next step is being able to use your offspeed whenever you can, whenever it’s needed, because you have to protect your fastball. That was huge for me tonight to be able to protect my fastball.”
Alvarez’s (3-1) outing was capped off by striking out Georgia Tech’s first three hitters in the top of the fifth, pushing his strikeout total to a career best 10 in the game. He ultimately allowed one unearned run on two hits and three walks.
“It’s awesome knowing they’re going to execute pitches,” Rembert said of the pitching staff. “It instills a lot of confidence in us. It’s easier for us to have fewer baserunners on, to make the routine plays and get outs.”
Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the second, Rembert stepped to the plate with one on and one out and deposited the first pitch he saw from starter Dimitri Angelakos over the War Eagle Wall in left field for his first home run of the season. The sophomore ended the game with two hits and three RBI.
“It felt like a weekend, like a SEC weekend, honestly,” Rembert said of the atmosphere at Plainsman Park. “We try to take every game the same. Going into it, we had the expectation to execute, and that’s what we did.”
The two teams traded blows in the first inning with Georgia Tech (17-4) taking advantage of a failed pickoff attempt and Auburn (18-2) answering with a one-out double from Bub Terrell.
Logan Gregorio started the second inning with a solo home run off the hitting facility in right field, and Rembert followed three batters later with his aforementioned long ball to make it a 4-1 game.
After going down in order in the third and fourth innings, Auburn extended its lead with five runs on four hits in the fifth. A pair of bases-loaded walks from Brandon McCraine and Lucas Steele started the scoring in the inning before Auburn native’s Todd Clay and Cade Belyeu drove in runs for the second straight game. Rembert capped off the inning with a RBI single to left center.
Six of Alvarez’s last seven outs were via the strikeout, and Christian Chatterton picked up where his fellow sophomore left off with a pair of strikeouts in the sixth.
Georgia Tech scratched a run after a leadoff hit batter in the seventh, but LJ Cormier kept the Yellow Jackets off the scoreboard in the final two inning to end the game.
Auburn’s week of top-ranked foes continues with a three-game series against No. 2 Texas (18-1, 2-1 SEC) Friday through Sunday at Plainsman Park.