Freshman Casey Mize pitched seven strong innings and allowed only one run in Auburn's 10-1 victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday at Plainsman Park.
In his second career start, Mize pitched seven innings for the second time. He struck out four batters in his first career win, improving his record to 1-1 on the season.
"Casey really settled in a battle against a good team that is hard to strike out," said Auburn coach Butch Thompson. "They had good at-bats, but Casey was pretty good and gave us a good start."
Auburn got its start early, putting runs on the board in the first inning with a two-run double by Blake Logan to score Joshua Palacios and Jordan Ebert.
"The guys came out in the first inning and threw the first punch," Thompson said.
The punches continued as Anfernee Grier hit his third home run of the season in the third inning to make it 3-0. In the fourth, Palacios' RBI single and Ebert's RBI double put the Tigers up 5-0.
Oral Roberts scored its only run of the game in the fifth. Auburn responded with four runs on three hits in the sixth. Niko Buentello hit his 26th RBI of the season, leading the SEC. Ebert, Palacios and Nulph also had an RBI in the sixth.
"[Jordan] Ebert had a quality RBI in the sixth inning after falling behind in the count, and that's the kind of at-bats we have to have," Thompson said.
Ebert had another RBI in the eighth, scoring Grier to put the Tigers up 10-1. He had three hits and three RBIs.
"I just thought we moved it down the line more today and had more team at-bats today," Thompson said. "The guys really passed information well and got in a good rhythm."
Palacios was 3-4 with two runs and two RBIs, extending his streak of reaching base safely to 15 games. Grier's hit in the third and extended his hitting streak to 16 games, dating back to the last game of the 2015 season.
Oral Roberts' Logan Michaels (0-2) took the loss. He gave up five earned runs in four innings.
"Tomorrow is a big day, and our growth is huge for us right now," Thompson said.
The Tigers (7-8) conclude the series with Oral Roberts with game three at 1 p.m. Sunday at Plainsman Park.
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