Millionaire matchup:

Top picks Mize, Singer square off again

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Casey Mize and Brady Singer expect to pitch under less stress than they did the last few weeks, maybe even months.

Mize and Singer will take the mound Saturday for the first time since becoming first-round picks in the Major League Baseball draft. Mize was the top selection out of Auburn, taken by Detroit, and Florida’s Singer went 18th overall to Kansas City.

It’s a matchup of soon-to-be millionaires in the NCAA baseball tournament. Mize and Singer will square off for the third time in 15 months—the rubber match between two of the best arms in college baseball.

This meeting, which comes in the opening game of the best-of-three Auburn-Florida super regional, has more at stake than the previous two.

But given the stress Mize and Singer felt leading up to the draft, it should be a relatively relaxed environment for the hard-throwing right-handers.

“I’m very relieved,” said Mize, whose projected signing bonus is a little more than $8 million. “It was a great process and a great day on draft day, but I’m very relieved to have it over and now we can just focus on what we’re trying to do for the rest of the year.”

And that’s get to the College World Series.

The team that loses the opener will be in a hole, needing to win back-to-back games to advance to Omaha, Nebraska, and college baseball’s biggest stage.

“The whole baseball world will be watching,” Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It’s Singer versus Mize and Florida versus Auburn, two SEC teams. I think you embrace it.”

The Tigers (42-21) cruised through their regional at North Carolina State, beating Northeastern, Army and the host Wolfpack by a combined score of 40-12.

Mize (10-5, 2.95 ERA) was stout in his start, allowing four hits and a solo home run in seven innings. He walked two and struck out 11. The junior from Springville, Alabama, has 260 strikeouts and 21 walks his last two seasons, gaining command of four pitches that include a nasty slider and a split-finger change-up that often have opposing batters looking silly.

“You don’t see a guy that polished that much at this level,” Florida right fielder Wil Dalton said. “You got your guys that have the tools to go and pitch in the big leagues, but his stuff is so refined and so consistent. … He throws every one of his pitches for a strike, any count, any time. He’ll pitch you backwards. He’ll pitch you however he wants to.”

The Gators (45-18), the last team to advance to the super regionals, feel Singer compares favorably with Mize.

The Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year is 11-2 with a league-leading 2.27 ERA. He held hitters to a .188 average while going at least seven innings in 11 of 14 starts in 2018. Over his last six starts, Singer is 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 44 innings.