Mize with another gem
AUBURN | Casey Mize to the rescue.
The All-American right-hander led No. 21 Auburn to a 2-1 win over Mississippi State Friday night to break a five-game conference losing streak.
The Tigers improve to 24-11 overall and 5-8 in the SEC while the Bulldogs fall to 18-17 and 4-9.
“Just a complete, complete ballgame,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “The efficiency and control, I think even though we’re not playing great baseball, it just permeates the entire team how he handles himself. It just puts everybody at comfort, like it’s going to be okay.”
Mize struck out nine and didn’t issue a walk in his fourth career complete game, holding the Bulldogs to a run on five hits to improve to 7-1 on the season.
“It’s definitely big. Getting a win in the SEC on a Friday night to kind of set yourself up for the weekend is obviously kind of important,” said Mize, who threw 106 pitches including 76 for strikes. “We kind of reset our mindset and got back to us having some swagger and playing like we can play. Tonight we showed that and it went our way. We’ve got to come out tomorrow and try to do it again.”
The Bulldogs lone run came in the sixth as Tanner Allen tripled home a run with one out. Allen was stranded at third base, however, as the next two batters bounced ground balls right back to the mound.
MSU nearly got to Mize in the first when Hunter Stovall hit a two-out single to center with the speedy Jake Magnum at second base, but Jay Estes threw a strike home and Brett Wright was able to tag him out to end the inning.
“That was a big play,” Mize said.
Auburn played errorless baseball for the first time since a 5-2 win over Alabama on March 27.
Auburn scored a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Venter to score Brett Wright, who led off the inning with a double, and added another in the third as Jay Estes led off the inning with double and scored on a two-out single by Will Holland.
Auburn managed just four hits in 7.2 innings off MSU starter Konnor Pilkington, who fell to 2-5 on the season.
“The biggest thing I would point out tonight is a lot of times when you’re really trying to get a program going, this is still our second full season, these guys are just battling so hard. Usually you get a little momentum going and people kind of rally behind you and show up at the ballpark. This was different tonight," said Thompson of the announced crowd of 3,831 at Plainsman Park.
"This was a seminal moment for me personally because we got a crowd that showed up to back our team, our program, and stand in the gap and help us on a Friday night in the SEC when we’re not playing our best baseball. That defines Auburn family for me and I want to say thank you to every fan. I can’t tell you what it means to these young men."
The series continues at 2 p.m. CT Saturday and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be available on SECN+ and WatchESPN.