No. 4 Auburn baseball cruised to a 9-2 victory in a heavyweight bout with No. 3 Georgia Tech on Tuesday evening at Plainsman Park.
The Tigers extended their winning streak to 11 and have taken five straight against the Yellow Jackets.
Earning the nod against a Yellow Jackets’ lineup that leads the country in numerous offensive categories – batting average (.393), hits (280), runs (254), scoring (12.7) and on-base percentage (.511) – Andreas Alvarez tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts in five innings of work, earning his third win of the season.
The right-handed sophomore gave up a pair of hits with one unearned run before giving way to Christian Chatterton and LJ Cormier, who combined to close the final four frames with six strikeouts.
It marked the most strikeouts Georgia Tech has suffered this season.
Meanwhile, Auburn wasted no time at the dish, plating four early runs to give it an early edge it would not relinquish. Auburn outhit Georgia Tech 11-3 (the Yellow Jackets reached base more on walks than hits).
A long, drawn-out opening inning saw Georgia Tech strike first after Alvarez issued a leadoff walk to Drew Burress. An errant throw on a pickoff attempt allowed him to reach scoring position before Jarren Advincula plated him with a two-out single through the left side.
After consecutive one-out doubles from Chase Fralick and Bub Terrell, Auburn evened things at one apiece before a home run-filled second frame broke things open.
Logan Gregorio led the inning off with a 349-foot blast – his first of the season – over the wall in right field. Chris Rembert kept it going, blasting his first homer of the season with a two-run shot that flew off his bat at 110 mph.
With Alvarez settling in and setting a new career-high in strikeouts, Auburn rode out a five-run fifth inning to its 12th win at Plainsman Park this season, which set a midweek record with 6.498 fans in attendance.
A lead-off walk and a pair of singles juiced the bases for Auburn. Back-to-back one-out walks gave the Tigers their first two runs in the frame before a pair of singles, and a fielder’s choice plated three more.
Georgia Tech, which saw its leadoff man reach in four of nine innings, plated one more after a leadoff walk led to an RBI-single, again from Advincula.
Chatteron gave up one hit with four strikeouts in two innings of work, and Cormier closed the final two frames with a pair of strikeouts.
At the plate, three Tigers recorded multiple hits, with Terrell leading the way with a pair of singles after his early double.
Auburn will host No. 2 Texas for a weekend series, beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.
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