A three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning was enough to put Auburn in front, but the Yellowjackets sent the game to extras where a grand-slam by Jackson Finley handed the Tigers their second mid-week loss in a row.
The Auburn Tigers (19-12-1, 4-8 SEC) fell 12-8 at the hands of the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (20-13, 7-8 ACC) in 10 innings.
“It’s pretty simple,” said head coach Butch Thompson. “Our guys always fight. We’re absolutely going to keep doing that. We’ve done it time and time again. We can’t do what we want to do until we put our face in the mitt. I don’t know any other way to slice it.”
Chase Allsup got the start for Auburn and allowed six runs from five hits, walked four batters and struck out three in three innings of work. Konner Copeland stopped the bleeding in two innings of work in which he allowed one run from four hits, walked two batters and struck out one. Christian Herberholz provided two scoreless innings that saw one walk and one strikeout. Will Cannon ended up with the loss in a 1.2 inning effort that saw four runs from two hits, three walks and two strikeouts.
Logan McGuire got the start for Georgia Tech and allowed one run off of three hits, no walks and struck four batters out. Dalton Smith ended up with the win for the Yellowjackets in one inning of work that saw one strikeout and no one get on base.
Auburn got the scoring started in the top of the first inning with a single from Bobby Peirce that scored Cole Foster. Georgia Tech answered back in the bottom of that inning with a two-run homer by Angelo Dispigna.
The Yellowjackets continued to pour it on as Jake DeLeo hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Jack Rubenstein was forced in on a walk and Kristian Campbell grounded into a double play that allowed Nick Romano to score in the fourth inning.
The Tigers managed to make some noise in the fifth inning when Bryson Ware hit a sac-fly to score Peirce and cut the deficit to four.
Georgia Tech added another run in the sixth inning, but Auburn started to come alive as Ike Irish reached on an infield single that scored Peirce in the seventh inning. Kason Howell doubled to drive in Justin Kirby and Caden Green singled to score Howell in the eighth, bringing the Tigers within two runs.
The ninth inning saw a lot of back-and-forth as Peirce scored on a wild pitch and Ware blasted a two-run homer to left field to put the Tigers up one. Georgia Tech answered back, however, as Finley reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Campbell to score and sent the game to extra innings.
This game only needed one extra inning as Finley hit a walk-off grand-slam in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win for Georgia Tech.
Auburn will be back in action this weekend when the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a three-game series with the Alabama Crimson Tide. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CST on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. CST on Sunday.
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Daniel Locke, junior in journalism, is the community editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @danieljlocke
