ATLANTA – No. 11 Auburn struck for three runs in the second inning but was held scoreless the rest of the way in a 13-3 run-rule loss at No. 3 Georgia Tech Tuesday night.
The Tigers (20-8) scored first for the fifth straight game, but the Yellow Jackets (23-5) answered with a six-run bottom of the second and ultimately scored in five of their last seven inning en route to the win.
“We knew it’d be a bullpen game on both sides,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “They got eight runs with two outs. They got the leadoff man on. Then we were hanging in there, but whether we stayed with the guy or went to the bullpen they still drug runs in. That’s really the difference in the ballgame.”
Bub Terrell started the scoring with a leadoff home run in the second, his fifth of the season. Bristol Carter extended the advantage with a two-out, two-run double that snuck inside the third base bag and skipped down the left field line, scoring Ethin Bingaman and Brandon McCraine.
Georgia Tech responded with a walk and two-run home run from Ryan Zuckerman in the home half of the inning to make it a one-run game. The Yellow Jackets took the lead on a two-out, two-run double from Drew Burress followed by a two-run home run from Vahn Lackey later in the frame.
Auburn threatened by loading the bases on a pair of hits and a walk with one out in the third, but a strikeout and popup ended the inning without any damage.
Georgia Tech extended its lead to 8-3 on a RBI single from Burress that resulted in two runs as the ball skipped under the glove of Terrell in left field and allowed the Yellow Jackets’ center fielder to round the bases. The home team’s third two-run home run of the game made it a 10-3 game in the fifth.
After nine of Auburn’s first 16 batters reached on six hits and three walks, the next 11 batters were retired from the end of the third through the sixth inning. Just one batter, Carter, reached on a leadoff walk in the seventh inning for the rest of the game.
“Our offense has to get their minds back to playing good baseball, having good at-bats and starting innings early,” Thompson added. “We just need, overall, tougher at-bats. We have to push through and keep playing and having at-bats. We have to make some things happen.”
Auburn returns to Plainsman Park for an eight-game homestand starting Thursday at 6 p.m. CT vs. No. 15 Arkansas (19-10, 4-5 SEC).