No. 11 Auburn baseball rallies to beat No. 18 Georgia Tech in midweek action

No. 11 Auburn traveled to Atlanta for a midweek contest against the No. 18 Georgia Tech and came from behind, scoring four runs in the last three innings to to outlast the Yellow Jackets 9-8 at Russ Chandler Stadium. 

The win marked the Tigers ninth against a ranked opponent and it was their sixth one-run win on the year.

“We just didn’t blink and were able to hang in there and get some big swings off,” Irish said. “It’s a confidence booster knowing we can come back and win from behind. We’re figuring out ways to win. We still haven’t played our best baseball yet, but if we keep finding ways to win, we’ll peak eventually.” 

Two hits from Bub Terrell and Ike Irish as well as a Cooper McMurray grand slam in the top of the first led the way for Auburn's offense in the early goings.

Bristol Carter got things going in the eighth inning with a walk then a Deric Fabian double scored him. Terrell  hit the go-ahead single followed by an Ike Irish line drive single to extend the lead to 9-7.

Christian Chatterton started on the mound for the Tigers going a solid three innings while only surrendering one run. Junior right hander Dylan Watts earned the win shutting down the Jackets in the last 3.1 innings, only giving up one earned run. He got the Tigers out of a few jams in the sixth and eighth innings, and recorded two crucial double plays — one in the seventh and another to end the game in the ninth.

"It meant a lot to me,” Watts said of finishing the win. “I feel like I’ve been throwing it a lot better and helping the team win lately. I felt great for the guys, being so resilient. There was no doubt in my mind they were going to come back and score some runs.” 

Auburn 23-10 (6-6 SEC) looks to continue its winning ways with a huge matchup on the Plains this weekend against No. 3 LSU  (31-3) (10-2 SEC). First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m CTS and will be streamed on SECN+.