Mize improves to 6-0
AUBURN | Trey Harris hit Casey Mize’s first pitch of the game over the centerfield wall. Kameron Misner drove his third pitch down the left field line for a double.
Missouri managed just three hits off the All-American over the next six-plus innings. Mize struck out seven to lead No. 9 Auburn to a 5-2 win over the visiting Tigers Friday night at Plainsman Park.
“We’ve had Tim Hudson come in here and Scott Sullivan, some of Auburn’s greatest pitchers and they talk about pitching in the big leagues and what separates the guys that are really, really good are the nights when you don’t have your best stuff,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said.
“I thought Missouri had a great plan and I did not think Casey had his best stuff in a month, but that guy navigated because he has maturity, he’s a competitor and he knows how to pitch.”
Mize improves to 6-0 allowing two runs on five hits in 7.1 innings. He didn’t issue a walk on 100 pitches. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning and retired 10 straight through the sixth.
“It was pretty frustrating. Obviously didn’t have my best stuff,” Mize said. “I just had to kind of reset, shove the ball in the zone and let my defense work.”
Mize did find satisfaction in earning the win and making it into the eighth inning despite not being at his best.
“Being out there for as long as you can is something the Friday night guy has to do to set your team up for success,” he said. “The fact that I could go out there and get 7.1 innings in is pretty big.”
Calvin Coker, who has pitched in four of the last five games, held Missouri without a hit over the final 1.2 innings to earn his sixth save of the season. Coker struck out two and issued one walk on 17 pitches.
“He’s a rubber arm,” Mize said. “He could throw all 56 games of the year, really. He’s pretty sharp every time he comes out there too, which is remarkable because I know tomorrow I’m going to feel terrible and he’s going to be hot again tomorrow.”
Auburn improves to 22-5 overall and 4-3 in the SEC while Missouri falls to 19-7 and 3-4.
Missouri’s 1-0 lead didn’t last long. Auburn struck for two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Brendan Venter to score Will Holland and a single by Brett Wright to score Steven Williams.
Auburn added two more runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Venter and a sacrifice fly by Wright, and another in the seventh on a solo home run by Edouard Julien over the right field wall, his fifth of the season.
Holland, Venter and Josh Anthony had two hits apiece for AU. Venter and Wright had two RBI apiece.
Thompson gave his game ball to the right side of Auburn’s infield as Luke Jarvis made several nice stops at second base including a leaping grab for the final out of the game, and Venter picked several low throws to first base out of the dirt.
“The defense made some really good plays,” Mize said. “Luke Jarvis at second base made a ton of great plays tonight including the last play of the game. Brendan Venter picked my up once on a ball I thought nobody could pick. He did a really good job.”
The three-game series continues Saturday at 6 p.m. CT and Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games will be telecast on SEC Network.