Auburn Baseball vs. South Carolina

Auburn pitcher Casey Mize throws against South Carolina Friday, March 31, 2017, during an NCAA baseball game at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

(Julie Bennett)

Butch Thompson playfully spoke Thursday about the friendly competition between his top two pitchers, Keegan Thompson and Casey Mize.

Keegan Thompson held the title of Friday night starter for Auburn until last week, when shoulder discomfort sidelined him for the Tigers' series against South Carolina. With Keegan Thompson sidelined, Mize stepped into that role last week -- and held it again heading into this weekend's road series at Texas A&M.

Both pitchers, who have certainly pitched well enough to stake claim to the title of Auburn's ace, covet the Friday night start. Butch Thompson joked that "Casey don't want to give it up, and Keegan wants it back." At the rate Mize is going, the sophomore right-hander may never loosen his grip on the prized spot atop the weekend rotation.

Mize was brilliant yet again in his second straight Friday night start as No. 7 Auburn took its series opener from Texas A&M, 2-1, at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas. The win gave Auburn (24-8, 8-2) more wins than it had last year in Butch Thompson's first season at the helm.

Mize (5-1, 1.37 ERA) tossed seven shutout innings, limiting the Aggies (20-11, 3-7 SEC) to just two hits and a walk while striking out 12 -- matching his career high, which he has reached three times this season. It was the second straight outing that Mize has fanned 12 batters, and he now sits at 75 on the year while issuing just eight walks.

"I think it's actually as good or better than last week, to be honest with you," Butch Thompson said. "I just thought that every time his back was against the wall, he stepped it up a notch and made a pitch. It was just a special outing. This is a good run for him with a lot of confidence, and I have a lot of faith and trust in him, and he got us there. He got us to the finish line."

Mize's 73 strikeouts are tops in the SEC and among the most in the nation, while his strikeout-to-walk ratio also ranks near the top of the NCAA. Mize has now struck out at least 10 batters in four of his eight starts as the righty has gotten off to a remarkable start to his sophomore season.

Friday was no different. A week removed from his first career complete game, Mize retired the first 10 batters he faced, including five via strikeout, before giving up a one-out single in the fourth.

"Stuff was a little not as sharp in the beginning, but then I settled in," Mize said. "It was kind of similar to last week in the feel. I felt pretty good."

While Mize was dealing on the mound, Auburn gave him an early lead to work with when Jay Estes hit a two-run double off Texas A&M starter Brigham Hill (5-3, 2.65 ERA), snapping a 14-inning scoreless streak for the Aggies' righty.

Estes finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and was the only Auburn player to record multiple hits. Luke Jarvis, Dylan Ingram, Damon Haecker and Will Holland each added a hit for the Tigers.

"We did enough, and especially on the road in this league, you take what you can get," Butch Thompson said. "We had to scratch and claw for this one tonight."

The two runs were plenty for Mize, who cruised through seven innings, only once running into trouble as the Aggies got runners on first and second with one out in the seventh before Mize ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to escape the jam and end his evening on the mound.

"I knew my time was coming to an end, just had to empty the tank, just bear down and don't try to give in," Mize said. "... Just bear down and give it everything you have."

Cole Lipscomb relieved Mize to open the eighth but gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth to Joel Davis to lose Auburn's bid for its NCAA-best eighth shutout. Auburn went to southpaw Andrew Mitchell with the lead cut in half, and Mitchell retired all three batters he faced to end the game and secure the win.

Auburn will try to clinch its fourth straight SEC series on Saturday at 3 p.m. with the team's other Friday night starter, Keegan Thompson, returning to the rotation.

"Keegan goes for us and once it gets past him, we'll see where we're at," Butch Thompson said. "Again, now that you get one, you're starting to talk about the opportunity, you don't keep it from the guys, now you got an opportunity to win a series, especially on the road.... We need to come out hungry.... We've got to reload tomorrow, and hopefully we'll make tomorrow count as well."