ATLANTA — In a midweek battle of Top 25 teams, it was the offenses that shined on Wednesday night, and Auburn narrowly out-paced Georgia Tech on the scoreboard in a back-and-forth 9-8 victory in front of a packed house at Mac Nease Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.

The game had its share of twists and turns with Auburn (23-10) scoring four in the first inning, Georgia Tech rallying for six in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead and eventually the visiting Tigers outscoring the host Jackets 4-1 over the final three frames to eke out an important non-conference victory.

“We got in a hole, we battled back. We had some good things happen to just get back in the game,” said Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall. “We took the lead and then couldn’t hold it. But even in the ninth inning we had (John) Giesler who got a hit so we had some life in the ninth. But we just couldn’t get that hit (when we needed it).

Auburn wasted no time dealing the first blow as Cooper McMurray stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first and crushing a ball out over the right-center wall for a grand slam to make it 4-0.

Georgia Tech (26-7) got one back in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single by John Giesler to cut the Auburn lead to 4-1. With two runners on in the fourth, Giesler narrowly missed a game-tying, three-run homer as it was caught at the base of the wall in left center for the third out of the inning.

Auburn added one to its lead in the fifth on a sac fly by Eric Guevara to make it 5-1.

Carson Kerce picked a good time for his first homer of the season as he sent one over the right field wall in the sixth for an opposite-field, two-run shot to cut Auburn’s lead to 5-3.

The big sixth inning continued with a fielder’s choice RBI by Parker Brosius followed by a two-run triple by Drew Burress and then an RBI single by Alex Hernandez to completely run the scoreboard around into a 7-5 Jackets’ lead. The Burress and Hernandez hits both came with two outs in the inning.

Auburn cut the deficit to one in the top of the seventh on a two-out, RBI single by Guevara, but Tech’s Connor Chicoli was able to get a groundout to end the inning and strand a pair of Tigers’ runners to keep it a 7-6 Jackets’ lead.

Auburn grabbed the momentum and the lead back by rallying for three runs in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Deric Fabian and RBI singles by Bub Terrell and Ike Irish to make it 9-7 Tigers.

Georgia Tech battled back within a run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI double by Burress but left runners stranded at first and third to end the inning as Auburn took a 9-8 lead to the ninth.

Georgia Tech put the tying run on in the bottom of the ninth, but a double play ended it and sealed the Auburn win.

“We feel like we’re very competitive offensively,” said Hall. “Obviously missing (Kyle) Lodise tonight so you’re kind of juggling your lineup a little bit, but I’m just looking at the box score…Burress, great night. Hernandez had a couple big hits for us. Kerce home run gave us life, got us back in the game. Giesler is trending in a good direction. So there were a lot of good things, but just not enough good things is how I’d say it.”

Georgia Tech out-hit Auburn 13 to 8, but walks were a big factor as the Jackets’ staff issued 10 walks total along with a hit-by-pitch to give the Tigers 11 free passes, which they cashed in for runs several times.

Georgia Tech used eight different pitchers in the contest with all but one issuing at least one walk. Jake Lankie took the loss to fall to 0-1 after going 2/3 of an inning and allowing one run on two hits with one walk. Brett Barfield, Riley Stanford and Caden Gaudette had the strongest outings of the group as each of the trio pitched one scoreless inning and didn’t allow a hit.

The Jackets’ Burress finished with a pair of hits, including a triple, a double and three RBIs while Kerce, Hernandez, Giesler and Tyler Neises all had multi-hit days as well. Kerce had a homer among his pair of knocks with two RBIs, and Lackey and Caleb Daniel each had a double. Hernandez, Giesler and Parker Brosius each drove in one run.

Dylan Watts (2-0) earned the win for Auburn as he pitched the final 3 1/3 innings and allowed just one run on four hits.

Offensively for the Tigers McMurray had the big blow with his grand slam while Terrell and Irish each had two hits and an RBI apiece. Guevara drove in two runs, and Fabian added his double and an RBI.

After the game Hall said that Lodise was “day-to-day” with an unspecified injury while Kent Schmidt, who has missed the last couple weeks will be out for a little while longer. Hall said Schmidt would go back to the doctor soon and is expected to play again this season at some point.

Georgia Tech jumps back into ACC play this weekend, opening a three-game home series vs. California on Friday at 6 p.m.

Auburn returns home this weekend for a three-game SEC series vs. LSU starting Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central.