It appeared that Auburn’s stay in Hoover was going to be short. Keegan Thompson spotted Ole Miss an early 2-0 lead, as the Rebels sprayed rockets around the Hoover Met.
The Auburn offense and Casey Mize, however, had other ideas.
Auburn rallied for three runs in the fourth inning with two outs to take a 3-2 lead, and Blake Logan blasted a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning to lift Auburn (35-22) to a 5-4 victory over Ole Miss (32-25) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.
Casey Mize was near flawless on the mound for Auburn, as he took over for Keegan Thompson in the third inning and held the Rebels to two runs over the final six innings in his first relief appearance of the season.
“His last two starts he's been trying to comeback and just has not commanded the ball as well,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “I thought he had much more command tonight. I think that was a jolt in the arm for our ball club to see Casey go out there and pitch that way tonight.”
Mize allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits en route to his seventh win of the year. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter.
“We know it’s a big game,” Mize said. “That’s a good ball club we just got done playing. We knew it’d be tough. Putting us into double elimination play is big. Winning this game is big for us, and I think we set ourselves up nicely for the rest of the tournament.”
Ole Miss grabbed the early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings. Nick Fortes and Kyle Watson each had RBI hits for the Rebels.
Auburn took the lead in the fourth inning with two-out RBI hits by Will Holland and Jonah Todd.
The Rebels tied the game in the top of the sixth on an error by Auburn first baseman Dylan Ingram.
In the bottom half of the inning, Logan had his shining moment as he blasted a 3-2 fastball from Will Stokes over the wall in left field for his third home run of the year.
“I’ve been really waiting on that one swing,” Thompson said about his senior catcher. “Hopefully it’s something because he can get hot. He hasn’t swung it the way he did last year, but I loved seeing that swing tonight.”
“I play for these guys in the dugout,” Logan said. “To feel like you kind of did something to contribute, it’s really nice.”
Auburn added what proved to be a huge insurance run in the eighth inning, as Ryan Olenek hit his third home run of the year in the ninth inning to bring the Rebels within one, but Mize retired the final two Ole Miss hitters to end the Rebels’ hopes.
“Casey came in, and you can tell why he’s so special,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “We weren’t able to do much, other than the double by Golson and the home run from Olenek. In between that, a lot of strikeouts.”
Stokes, who held Auburn scoreless over 4.1 innings last weekend, took the loss as he allowed one run on three hits in 1.1 innings. Fortes, Olenek and Watson each finished with one hit and a RBI for Ole Miss.
Todd finished 2-for-5 for the Tigers as he picked up his 25th multi-hit game of the season. Logan and Conor Davis each finished the night with two hits. Dylan Ingram extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the seventh inning.
“I think for Auburn University, as we try to build a program, I think the SEC Tournament is huge for our baseball program,” Thompson said. “I wanted our guys to leave a legacy about how big and important this tournament is to Auburn University and our fans in this area. This is a good time for us to play good.”
Auburn will take on No. 1 seed Florida Wednesday night following the conclusion of the LSU-Missouri game. Auburn swept the Gators at Plainsman Park earlier this season. First pitch between the Tigers and Gators is tentatively set for 8 p.m. CT barring any types of delay.
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