March 12, 2018
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Auburn right-hander Casey Mize has been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week after turning in the conference's fourth complete-game no-hitter since 1996 in last Friday's series opener against Northeastern.
The Pitcher of the Week honor is the first of Mize's career and the first for Auburn since Keegan Thompson earned the recognition on Mar. 6, 2017. Mize was also named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
The Springville, Ala., native dazzled in a 6-0 win against the Huskies en route to securing the Tigers' first no-hitter since nine pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against UAB on Mar. 19, 2002 and the first complete-game no-hitter since Eric Brandon did so against Murray State 17 days earlier. It was the Tigers' ninth no-hitter in program history.
Mize, who improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.13, struck out a career-high 13 batters and faced one over the minimum with the lone Huskie reaching on a fielding miscue in the top of the fourth inning. Mize's strikeout total was the highest by an Auburn pitcher since Jon Luke Jacobs also struck out 13 against Alabama State on Feb. 28, 2012.
Mize came out of the gates dealing as he struck out the side in his first inning of work and retired the first 10 batters he faced -- six via the strikeout.
The right-hander trotted out to start the ninth inning with 88 pitches on the night. Set to face Northeastern's eight, nine and one hitters, Mize induced a trio of groundouts to end the game in no-hit fashion while only throwing 105 pitches, 77 of which were strikes.
Mize and the Tigers are scheduled to play five games this week starting with a pair of midweek games against Georgia Tech and Memphis and concluding with the SEC opening series against Texas A&M.