A quiet night at the plate was more than enough for No. 11 Auburn, as the Tigers used dominant pitching and a disciplined plate approach to earn a 1-0 victory over No. 21 Georgia Tech on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park. The tightly contested matchup played out in front of a record-setting midweek crowd of 5,559, giving fans a tense and rewarding evening of baseball.
A second inning walk turned out to be the difference in the game, securing Auburn’s fourth shutout win of the season. The win was also the program’s first 1-0 victory since May 30, 2015, when they edged Mercer during the Tallahassee Regional.
The victory also had historical significance on the other side. For Georgia Tech, the loss marked the first time the Yellow Jackets have been shut out all season, and their two hits were the fewest they’ve recorded in any game in 2024. Auburn’s pitching staff was in complete command from start to finish, tallying 15 strikeouts as a unit while not issuing a single walk—an impressive display of control and execution.
“They were sharp when they needed to be,” said Auburn head coach Butch Thompson about his pitching staff. “We’re at that stage here in this last month, if you want to be a good team you need to win in different ways, and that’s our first 1-0 shutout since 2015 for our program. I couldn’t be more proud.”
The tone was set early by sophomore right-hander Christian Chatterton, who made his third consecutive midweek start. He came out firing, striking out four of the first five batters he faced and keeping the Georgia Tech lineup off balance with a confident mix of fastballs and breaking pitches. Chatterton delivered four scoreless and hitless innings, working around three walks and punching out six batters in the process.
His performance was part of a carefully managed pitching plan, as Thompson emphasized the importance of treating the game with a postseason mentality.
“We knew to have the best guys available going into tonight thinking this would be a top-25 competitive ballgame," Thompson added, “Just to be 1-0 and for the good guys, those guys pitched great.”
The Tigers (28-13) mounted their only scoring threat in the second inning, drawing three walks to load the bases. Georgia Tech (29-12) nearly escaped the jam with back-to-back strikeouts, but Auburn’s patience at the plate paid off when Cooper McMurray earned a walk to drive in the game’s lone run. Despite producing 11 hits and totaling 18 bases, Auburn was held in check by Georgia Tech’s pitching, which allowed no walks and struck out six. The Tigers stranded three runners but managed just enough to secure the win.
After Chatterton exited, the bullpen took over and continued to stifle the Yellow Jackets. Senior right-hander John Armstrong (2-1) earned the win, throwing two shutout innings with three strikeouts. He gave way to Carson Myers in the seventh, and Myers turned in one of his most efficient outings of the season. Needing just 17 pitches—15 of them strikes—Myers retired all six batters he faced and struck out four of them.
“It's a big confidence boost, for sure,” Myers said. “I just think bouncing back from this weekend, the ability to do that just tells you how good this team is and this staff, and I think going into this weekend and knowing that we can do that to a great team has only built our confidence even more.”
In the ninth, Cam Tilly took the mound to close things out. The freshman reliever showed poise beyond his years, striking out two and securing his first career save. With just 29 batters faced in total, Auburn’s pitching staff was nearly flawless in its execution.
At the plate, the Tigers had no shortage of baserunners through the first six innings but couldn’t find the big hit to add insurance. Chris Rembert provided the most consistent production with two hits — marking his 10th multi-hit game of the season. Auburn also launched a pair of home runs to round out its 11-hit performance.
Georgia Tech, on the other hand, was held to just two hits and stranded six runners, unable to solve Auburn’s relentless pitching staff. Though the Yellow Jackets managed to keep the game close with solid defense and sharp pitching of their own including 77 of their pitches going for strikes, they couldn't find the offensive breakthrough they needed.
The win is a significant confidence booster for Auburn, especially as the team enters the crucial final stretch of the season.
Auburn now looks ahead to a weekend series against SEC foe Mississippi State, beginning Friday night at 6 pm C.S.T. Plainsman Park.
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Grace is a Sophomore majoring in Speech Language Hearing Sciences. She joined the Plainsman in the spring of 2024.
