AUBURN | Tanner Burns put his name among the Auburn's best-ever pitchers with his 15 strikeouts Friday night, tying the school record held by Casey Mize, Chris Bootcheck, Tim Hudson, John Powell and Mark Chapman.

And Auburn coach Butch Thompson insists that’s right where the sophomore right-hander belongs.

“I think he is. I think he’s already there,” Thompson said. “If you start evaluating guys when they’re sophomores, I’d say that he is, if not slightly ahead. Tonight made me feel like a junior performance by Casey Mize or Keegan Thompson.”

Hudson, a four-time all-star, and Bootcheck both pitched in the majors, Powell is the NCAA all-time strikeout leader with 602 and Mize was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Chapman’s 63 starts are tied for second all-time at Auburn and his 17 complete games are third-best.

Thompson, who finished his Auburn career with a 2.46 ERA, the best in nearly 40 years, is working his way up through the Chicago Cubs organization after being selected in the third round of the 2017 draft.

Burns was part of the weekend rotation along with Mize last year.

“That’s a huge accomplishment. I mean, Casey’s unreal, first overall pick and just a better person. My name and his name being compared together is really pretty cool,” said Burns.

“Being my locker roommate last year and just everyday coming to the field, I would just try to pick his brain everyday as much as I could.”

In addition to his 15 strikeouts, Burns allowed just two hits and didn’t walk a batter in his first-career complete game as Auburn defeated Cincinnati 5-0.

“It felt like one of the most dominating performances outside of the no-hitter Casey threw here last year,” Thompson said.

Through three starts this season, Burns is 2-0 with a 0.92 ERA, 29 strikeouts and three walks in 19.2 innings.

“Super friendly guy. Doesn’t look like he throws 95 at all,” catcher Matt Scheffler said. “But he’s a completely different guy on the baseball field. When he’s on the field it’s all business. He’s trying to be the best he can every single day.”

Burns works hard to improve his craft each outing, whether that’s becoming more efficient, especially to begin games, or adjusting the grip on his curveball before the Cincinnati game with an assist from Cody Greenhill.

“His has a sharp break on it,” Burns said. “All I’m doing is throwing it off my four-seam fastball and just moving my pointer finger over a little. It goes right to left. Luckily, it was on for me tonight but there’s still some work I can do to make it an even better pitch.

“I build off each outing and that’s one thing I’ve learned, I’ve got to believe in my stuff,” he added. “Tonight I believed in my stuff and I got ahead and worked ahead and finished at-bats.”

Auburn, off to a 9-2 start, hosts UT Martin for a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games begin at 4 p.m. CT on SECN+. Burns will be back in action Friday night for the first of a three-game series against UTSA.