No. 11 Auburn baseball’s bats went stagnant after the early frames, and No. 3 Georgia Tech blasted four longballs to hand Auburn a 12-3 loss in eight innings on Tuesday night at Russ Chandler Stadium.
The loss marked Auburn’s fourth consecutive and first in the last six games against the Yellow Jackets, ending a streak of the most wins by either team in the series since 1967-1977.
The Tigers struck first with all three of their runs coming in their half of the second. Bub Terrell snuck a 103 MPH one-out screamer over the left field wall, and Bristol Carter tallied Auburn’s third extra-base hit with a double down the left field line that scored Ethin Bingaman and Brandon McCraine, who reached on a single and a walk, respectively, beforehand.
After that, 15 of Auburn’s next 16 batters did not reach base as the Yellow Jackets’ pitching staff fanned eight and held the Tigers hitless for the remainder of the game.
Georgia Tech answered Auburn’s early surge with six runs on four hits in the home half of the second. Ryan Zuckerman blasted a two-run home run to deep right field, registering 430 feet for his 10th of the season. A walk and an infield single – a bunt down the third base line into the Auburn shift – set up a Drew Burress double before Vahn Lackey capped the innings’ scoring efforts with another two-run blast to left field.
Burress tallied his second hit of the night in the fourth, scoring Carson Kerce, who singled to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Burress’ single escaped the glove of Terrell in left field, allowing him to touch every base on the play.
With Auburn using a parade of arms, already on its fourth arm in the fifth frame, Kerce recorded a two-run home run, giving the home squad a seven-run lead through five.
Auburn’s Marcel Kulick tossed a three-up, three-down sixth frame before giving up an RBI double two batters into the seventh. He gave way to Ethan Harden after placing runners on the corners with another single relinquished.
Harden traded a run for a double play and threw another groundball out to end the frame.
With Auburn turning in its fourth 1-2-3 inning at the plate in its half of the eighth, Georgia Tech capped off its ferocious offensive outburst with a deep home run to right field, giving it a fifth consecutive win.
After a four-game road stretch, Auburn will return to the friendly confines of Plainsman Park for eight straight, beginning with No. 15 Arkansas on Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
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