Friday night's all right for Mize

AUBURN | Friday night’s all right for Casey Mize.

In his first-ever Friday night start, Mize threw his first-career complete game to lead No. 17 Auburn to a 5-4 win over No. 6 South Carolina at a sold-out Plainsman Park.

“I thought Casey Mize starting the game was about as sharp as I’ve seen a guy start a ballgame, especially on a Friday night,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “That was special stuff and that was executed and put in a special spot.”

Mize (4-1) tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts. He allowed 10 hits and walked one. His start was moved up from Saturday to Friday because of Keegan Thompson’s shoulder tendonitis.

“I wanted to go as long as I could because I know the situation we’re in and everybody knows that,” Mize said. “I wanted to give the team the confidence that we don’t have to have Keegan on the mound Friday night to win.

“Keegan does give us confidence. We’re probably going to win if Keegan’s going, but I want people to think me too. I wanted to go out and have a good outing and I did.”

The win improves the Tigers to 22-6 overall and 6-1 in the SEC while the Gamecocks fall to 18-7 and 5-2.

“I thought top to bottom, our guys just competed in everything they did,” Thompson said. “They were diving all over the field trying to make plays. So was South Carolina. That was a special, special atmosphere at Plainsman Park. I think we realized what the potential of Auburn baseball can be by this Friday night atmosphere.”

South Carolina threatened to tie the game in the ninth on consecutive singles to open the inning, but Carlos Cortes was thrown out trying to go to second on a throw to third base.

With one out, a runner on third and Auburn bringing the infield in, shortstop Luke Jarvis made a diving stop on a sharp ground ball by Madison Stokes and threw him out at first with the baserunner holding at third.

Mize made the final out of the ninth, fielding a bunt down the third base line and throwing out TJ Hopkins by a step at first.

“I hopped off the mound and reacted and made a play,” Mize said. “I slipped a little bit, which kind of scared me. I’m sure it scared some of those guys. I’m just glad we made that play. We practice on that a lot.”

With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Jonah Todd scored from third on a passed ball and Jay Estes came in all the way from second on a throwing error.

The Tigers added three more in the third on a two-out, two-RBI double by Josh Anthony, who came around to score on a single by Bowen McGuffin.

South Carolina starter Will Crowe (3-1) took the loss allowing five runs, three earned, on eight hits in 6.0 innings.

The series continues Saturday at 5 p.m. CT and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES

** Mize struck out 10 of the first 15 batters he faced and then didn’t get a strikeout for the next 15 batters. South Carolina scored a run in the fifth and then three in the sixth on walk and four singles. “In that one inning they jumped on the fastball,” Mize said. “They did a really good job and changed their approach. That’s what good teams do. I recognized it too late. Luckily, I got out there and had to kind of restart and had to go back to what I was doing in the earlier innings.”

** During the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game on ESPNU Thursday night, announcer Chris Burke said he wasn’t a believer in Auburn or Missouri, which are both off to hot starts. “I probably shouldn’t pay attention to this but Auburn has to go prove that the Florida series wasn’t a fluke,” Mize said. “Coming out and beating the No. 6 team in the nation and beating the No. 5 team in the nation, it’s big. Auburn can do this … we just find ways. It proves this team can do something.”

** Second baseman Will Holland made key defensive plays in both the fifth and sixth innings to save runs.

** The official attendance was 4,096, the most since the Alabama game on May 9, 2015. “The crowd was unbelievable,” Mize said. “That atmosphere, I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of that so that was awesome. I’m glad I got to experience it.”

** Auburn is now 7-2 in one-run games after going 1-11 last season. The Tigers have won 12 of their last 13 games.