Takeaways from Auburn baseball's midweek loss against Georgia Tech in Atlanta
Auburn traveled from The Plains to The Flats to renew one of the oldest rivalries in the country, Auburn vs Georgia Tech. These teams have one of the longest standing rivalries, dating back to 1897, with Auburn holding the all-time record at 123-112-6.
Here's what you need to know about the walkoff victory by Georgia Tech:
Auburn comes back from seven runs down...
Auburn got a start from Chase Allsup, and the big sophomore righty from Dothan looked improved with a tweaked pitch mix - less fastballs, more curveballs - but he grooved exactly two pitches, one in each of the first and second inning, and each with two outs.
They were both hit for two-run homeruns.
Allsup finished the game with six runs allowed on five hits, owing to walking four over his three innings of work (with three strikeouts), the aforementioned two homeruns, and one wild pitch.
Of the five hits charged to Allsup, three were extra-base hits and of the four walks, two of them came around to score in the outing.
Auburn didn't go full bullpen game in this one, but the outings were shorter for several of Auburn's relievers - two innings each for Konner Copeland and Christian Herberholz, an inning plus for John Armstrong, and both Tanner Bauman and Will Cannon in the 9th.
Cannon made a miraculous escape in the 9th - after Auburn scored three runs in the top of the 9th to take an 8-7 lead, Will was called on to escape out of a jam, inheriting loaded bases with no outs in the 9th, and did everything he could to make the lead stick. A fielder's choice, which provided the game-tying run, was the only ball put in play against Cannon. Auburn twice had double play balls in the inning, including the one that scored the tying run against Cannon, but some bad luck left Auburn unable to turn either of them. Cannon struck out the final two batters of the inning to take the game to extras, doing as much as you can reasonably expect a college reliever to do in that situation.
But loses the game in extras
Tech got a leadoff double from Jackson Jad and two walks (one intentional) to load the bases with no outs in the 10th. Will Cannon stayed in the fight, inducing two infield grounders that ended up being fielder's choice outs at home.
And then DH Jackson Finley swung the bat.
The 6'4 Finley absolutely DESTROYED an elevated breaking ball to right-center for a no doubt grand slam.
The loss is Auburn's 2nd straight midweek loss and evens the season series with Georgia Tech at one victory apiece, with each team winning their home game.
Bryson Ware kept the streak alive
The senior Ware entered the game with a 16-game hitting streak, a career best, and a 33-game on-base streak, dating back to his final appearance of the 2022 season.
He was 0-3 with two strikeouts entering the 9th inning, and Auburn was down by one run, with a runner on base.
He took care of both the streak and the deficit with one swing.
Ware took an inside breaking ball to deep left field for his team-leading 15th homerun and 43rd RBI on the season, staking Auburn to a one-run lead at 8-7.
The pitching just hasn't been good enough
The program put out this tweet on Monday, demonstrating the impact of the Tiger bats in the 2023 season.
Auburn extended that scoring streak to thirteen games with tonight's loss.
Auburn's also only won six of those thirteen games.
Tigers pitchers walked twelve batters against Georgia Tech - if you take out the intentional walks in the 9th and 10th, it's still ten walks in ten innings.
Of the thirteen hits Auburn gave up tonight, six were for extra bases. I can hear head coach Butch Thompson now: "Most extra base hits are thrown, not hit."
I don't know how to fix it (I'd be working for Thompson if I did), but it's clear that if Auburn wants to make the postseason - and I'm talking about Hoover, for the SEC Tournament - the Tigers have to figure things out on the mound, and quickly.
This weekend's series in Tuscaloosa against Alabama is a matchup of two teams battling for position in the SEC West. Right now, Auburn's looking up at Alabama (also 4-8 in the conference, but with a better overall record of 24-10 versus Auburn's 19-13-1) and at Texas A&M, who is 5-7 in conference and holds a series victory over Auburn on their resume. You have a higher floor in the West, somewhat - the Mississippi schools do still exist, after all, but even there you're only one game ahead of Mississippi State (3-9) and only two ahead of Ole Miss (2-10) in conference standings.
What's next?
Auburn's back in action this weekend, on the road in Tuscaloosa to take on rival Alabama. First pitch times for the three-game series are 6:00PM (Friday and Saturday) and 1:00PM (Sunday). All three games are available for streaming on SEC Network+, and the radio broadcast with Brad Law and Andy Burcham are available in the local market on 93.9FM, online at AuburnTigers.com, or on the Auburn Athletics app.
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