Feb. 25, 2017
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AUBURN, Ala. -- Right-handed pitchers Casey Mize and Cole Lipscomb combined for 16 strikeouts as Auburn baseball defeated Holy Cross 4-0 to clinch the series Saturday at Plainsman Park. The Tigers have not allowed a run in the first two games of the series with consecutive shutouts.
"I think Casey finally got the baseball down and started pitching in to the batters a little bit, and I think that got them in swing mode a little bit more," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "They swung the bats a little bit more and earlier in the count getting the ball in. They watched a lot of pitches early, and we dug a little bit of a hole, but he got more efficient as he went. It was a good outing."
The 16 strikeouts by Mize and Lipscomb were the most strikeouts by the Auburn pitching staff since February 28, 2010 when Cole Nelson, Bradley Hendrix and Garrett Bush combined to strike out 16 vs. Florida Atlantic.
Auburn (6-1) has not allowed a run in the last 21 innings dating back to the final three innings against Florida A&M on February 15.
Mize struck out a career-high 12 batters over five innings with only one walk and improved to 2-0 on the season. Lipscomb pitched the final four innings with four strikeouts to earn his second save of the season.
Mize has started the season with 10 straight scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts and only one walk while Lipscomb has pitched 9.2 scoreless with nine strikeouts and a walk.
"The first couple of innings I felt a little out of sync," Mize said. "My body wasn't matched enough like I wanted to, wasn't delivering to the plate like I wanted to. After that, when I kind of settled down, I felt like I was in sync and my body was feeling good, so everything kind of played out."
Damon Haecker doubled to left to score Dylan Ingram for the game's first score in the second inning. Jonah Todd, who led Auburn with two hits, plated freshman Conor Davis and Haecker scored on a bases-loaded walk for two more runs in the fourth. Davis then plated Bo Decker for his first career hit and RBI in the fifth.
Holy Cross starter Brendan King (0-1) took the loss as the Crusaders fell to 0-3 for the season. He allowed three runs in 3.2 innings with seven walks.
Auburn and Holy Cross wrap up the series Sunday at 12 pm at Plainsman Park.