Casey Mize calmly ambled off the mound at Plainsman Park and toward home plate, triumphant once again as he embraced catcher Brett Wright and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. A string of placards dangling above the right-field wall were the only signs of his victims. Fifteen of them, all helpless against the nation's most dominant pitcher.

Those K placards, three backward ones smattered among the rest, hang just to the right of the visiting bullpen at Plainsman Park, seemingly taunting the opposing team whenever they look from the dugout to the bullpen: How do you match that?

When Mize is on the mound, the answer usually is you don't.

That was the case again Friday, as Auburn's ace twirled another gem, setting a new career high and tying a school record with 15 strikeouts in a complete-game effort that saw the Tigers take their series opener from No. 17 Vanderbilt, 4-1.

"He gets a lot of praise and credit, and I think we all agree, it's well-deserved," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. "Special, special night."

Along with the 15 strikeouts, Mize (9-2, 2.25 ERA) didn't issue a walk and allowed just four hits. He needed 110 pitches to get through the night, tying his season high pitch-count set a week ago at Florida, and he only reached a three-ball count on two hitters -- one each in the sixth and seventh innings -- all night.

The junior right-hander and likely first overall pick in this summer's MLB First-Year Player Draft was in command all night, striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced and fanning at least one in each of his nine innings of work while relying on an improved splitter and a devastating cut fastball to carve through the Commodores' (25-20, 11-11 SEC) lineup.

"From the outfield he looked disgusting tonight," Auburn left fielder Conor Davis said. "He's confident, and I'm glad we don't have to hit against him."

The lone blemish on Mize's otherwise commanding performance came in the seventh inning, when he surrendered a leadoff home run to Philip Clarke, a close friend of his who catches his offseason bullpen sessions. Clarke deposited the first pitch of the inning, a hanging slider up in the zone, over the right-field wall.

"He's a good hitter; he's a buddy of mine, actually, so that kind of sucks," Mize said.

Mize was unfazed, retiring the next three batters to end the inning and six in a row overall.

Mize ultimately got the best of Clarke, who had two of Vanderbilt's four hits on the night, striking out the freshman for the final out of the game, cementing his place in Auburn's record books once again.

"That makes it a little bit better, but I'm still a little mad about (the home run)," Mize said.

Mize joined four former Tigers in the record book with his 15-strikeout performance. Chris Bootcheck was the most recent entrant, striking out 15 against West Virginia in 1999. Tim Hudson accomplished it against Winthrop in 1997. John Powell did it against Ole Miss in 1994. Mark Chapman was the first to fan 15, doing so against Clemson in 1986.

"That's four really special pitching names in the history of our program," Thompson said, "and Casey matched that and deserved to, because those four men are special pitchers in our program, and I think Casey goes in that category of one of our special pitchers of all time."

While Mize was dominant on the mound, his outing was also supported by a pair of round-trippers, with Wright and Davis each going yard.

Wright put Auburn (32-14, 11-11) on the board in the bottom of the first with a solo home run over the Green Monster in left field, teeing off on Vanderbilt right-handed starter Drake Fellows'1-1 offering. Davis made it a four-run game in the fifth when he launched a three-run shot to center field.

For Davis, who made his first start since April 24 vs. Samford, it was his first home run of the season and just the second of his career. His only prior round-tripper came last year on April 2, when he hit a three-run walk-off home run against South Carolina.

"I kind of forgot what it felt like to do that," Davis said. "I just, after my first at-bat he kind of made me not look like a very good hitter, and I just was waiting on a mistake pitch, trying to jump on a fastball. He left a slider up. Big moment. I just embrace it."

Auburn will aim for the series win on Saturday at 2 p.m. with right-handed freshman Tanner Burns on the mound.

"It's just one," Thompson said. "It's a great, special day, but it's just one. We can't get too high, too low."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.