Auburn baseball takes Georgia series with another impressive comeback
The Auburn Tigers earned their first SEC series win of the season by taking game two of the series with Georgia with a striking resemblance to how they won the series opener.
On Thursday, Georgia led 6-3 heading to the bottom half of the 9th inning. Auburn would tie the game on a two-RBI double by Bryson Ware and an error that allowed him to score several at-bats later. Auburn would then seal the win in the 11th inning when Carter Wright was walked on four pitches with the bases loaded, giving the Tigers the 7-6 advantage.
In Friday’s middle game, Georgia jumped out to a 3-0 advantage through five innings before Auburn, yet again, erased the deficit to collect a win. Ike Irish scored three of the Tigers’ runs, and Justin Kirby added three more on a home run to left field in the 6th inning to give Auburn the 6-3 win over Georgia, which clinched the series at Plainsman Park.
“I thought it was a tall order tonight. I thought some things would have to go our way because you have a real, like game one SEC starter (Georgia starting pitcher Jaden Woods) going for them tonight even though it’s game two,” head coach Butch Thompson said following his team’s win over Georgia. “Any way you slice it, that’s a top-10 offense that you are facing. I thought that combination made this one really challenging.”
The Bulldogs struck first in the top of the 2nd inning when Cole Wagner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead. Bulldog power hitter Charlie Condon doubled the lead on a solo shot to dead-center field in the 3rd inning to move Georgia ahead, 2-0.
After the home run, Auburn starter Tanner Bauman walked the ensuing batter on four pitches, which caused head coach Butch Thompson to make a pitching change. Chase Allsup was called upon and ended the inning by striking out Sebastian Murillo to end the inning.
Allsup held Georgia in check until the 5th inning when a hit that just fell shy of Justin Kirby’s glove in right field, as well as an error, led the Bulldogs to score another run, extending their lead to 3-0. He would exit in the 6th inning after allowing one hit and striking out a batter in 2.2 innings of work.
Auburn was able to erase the no-hit effort of Georgia’s Jaden Woods in the bottom of the inning when freshman Ike Irish hit his first collegiate home run over the monster in left field to cut into the Bulldog’s lead, 3-1.
Irish would score Auburn’s second run of the game on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the 6th inning. Auburn would then take the lead on the very next at-bat when Justin Kirby cranked his eighth home run of the season over the left field wall. The three-run shot put Auburn ahead, 5-3.
Momentum rushed to Auburn’s side of the top of the 7th inning when Georgia’s Corey Collins failed to touch home plate after a Sebastian Murillo single that would have trimmed Auburn’s lead to 5-4. After review, it was determined that Collins never touched the plate, and was tagged out while trying to correct the effort.
From that moment on, Auburn collected three hits and a run while holding Georgia to two hits.
Irish and Kirby paced the team in RBI, scoring three runs each. The Tigers recorded eight hits in the game, with Caden Green being the only player to record two. John Armstrong earned the win on the mound. He went 2.2 innings and allowed five hits, zero earned runs, and zero walks.
RELATED: How to watch the Auburn-Georgia series
Game three of the series between Auburn and Georgia is set for 2 p.m. CT at Plainsman Park and will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
