Auburn uses defense, long ball to sweep Georgia Tech

Courtesy of Auburn Athletics

ATLANTA – Auburn recorded five defensive runs saved and hit three homers in a 7-2 win at Georgia Tech Tuesday, completing a midweek sweep of the Yellow Jackets this season.

Chris Stanfield robbed a two-run home run in the second inning and threw out a runner at the plate in the third, while Cade Belyeu brought back a second two-run homer in right field in the ninth.

“Yeah, we robbed two home runs and both of those were momentum switches,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “That game would’ve been all square but they absolutely made amazing catches and gave us some distance in the game.”

Leading 4-2 in the top of the ninth, Belyeu gave the Tigers some added insurance with a three-run homer over the wall in right field, his fourth home run of the season. Stanfield singled to start the inning and Cooper McMurray was intentionally walked with two outs to get the freshman to the plate.

“I loved Stanfield’s at-bat in the ninth,” Thompson said. “He hadn’t gotten a hit tonight and it was kind of rugged and fouled off everywhere, but he was still interested in his last at-bat. He’s got two strikes and fouls off a couple of pitches and is willing to get a base hit to right field. They wind up intentionally walking McMurray and that gives Belyeu a chance to have a moment. Those runs were huge.”

The home run extended Belyeu’s reached base streak to 19 games, the longest streak by an Auburn player this season, and he drove in a season-high four runs in the contest.

“First of all, big props to (Stanfield and McMurray) for giving me the opportunity to come up in that situation and big props to the pitching staff too for the whole game,” Belyeu added. “I was having a rough day at the plate, so I was just trying to look for something over the plate and be on time. The second pitch was over the plate and I just got a good swing off on it.”

Auburn’s bullpen trio of Ben Schorr, Cameron Keshock and Christian Herberholz each pitched a pair of innings and held Georgia Tech scoreless and to just three hits in the final six frames. Schorr earned his first career win, while Herberholz recorded his second save.

“It’s an offensive ballpark, so 7-2 is a great score for us here against them and throwing multiple guys,” Thompson said.

Georgia Tech (28-18) jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a solo homer from Drew Burress in the bottom of the first, and the Yellow Jackets nearly extended their advantage in the second. However, Stanfield elevated above the wall in center field and brought back what would’ve been a two-run homer from Mike Bicchetti.

“I knew the ball flies here so I had to get back quick,” Stanfield said. “I just timed it up. We practice it in practice every day and I just trusted my instincts. I knew exactly where I was, and that really goes back to the pregame, knowing where you are and knowing where the track is from the wall, but in the moment it was just instincts.”

Making his first appearance since Apr. 16, Joseph Gonzalez allowed the lone run on one hit with one walk in 2.0 innings pitched.

With Hayden Murphy on in relief, Georgia Tech doubled its lead with a RBI single from Burress in the third and threatened for more, but a strong throw from Stanfield to the plate nabbed Burress before he crossed and kept it a 2-0 game.

Auburn (23-24) took advantage of a Georgia Tech fielding miscue and scored on a sacrifice fly from Belyeu to cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth.

The Tigers then took the lead on back-to-back homers from Eric Guevara and Cooper Weiss to start the fifth. The long ball was Weiss’ third in two games against Georgia Tech this season. The Tigers later loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch from Stanfield, double from Ike Irish and intentional walk to McMurray and extended its lead to 4-2 on Georgia Tech’s second error of the game.

Georgia Tech put two aboard with a leadoff double and walk in the fifth, but Weiss turned a double play to erase a baserunner and Schorr got a flyout to centerfield to end the inning unscathed.

Keshock entered to relieve Schorr after 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out three batters around a one-out double in the sixth before working around a one-out walk in the seventh.

Herberholz took the mound in a 4-2 game and picked up where Keshock left off with a clean eighth before stranding a pair of runners in the ninth.

Auburn travels to Missouri (21-28, 7-17 SEC) for a three-game series in Columbia Friday through Sunday.