DETROIT -- Royals starter Brady Singer, a University of Florida alum, and Tigers starter Casey Mize, who hails from Auburn University, were once highly touted prospects who drew crowds of scouts and fans to pack the stands when they went head-to-head in college.

It took six years, but the SEC standouts finally rekindled their rivalry at Comerica Park.

Prior to Saturday night, the last time the two had faced off was in the 2018 NCAA Super Regional. Singer won bragging rights in that battle after he sat down 11 of the final 12 batters he faced, leaving one online publication to tout the headline "Gators, Brady Singer, roar past Tigers, Casey Mize."

“They were pretty competitive games in some big moments,” Mize remembered. “It's pretty cool [to come] full circle six, seven years down the road.”

The script was flipped Saturday, with the Tigers topping the Royals, 6-5, but that didn’t make the remix any less enjoyable.

“I had a couple people obviously text me and go, 'Oh, we get the matchup again,'” Singer joked heading into the outing. “We've done it a few times, and it's always fun competing against [Mize].”

In contrast to their final amateur bout, much of the drama in their first MLB matchup played out after Singer and Mize departed. Singer was in line for the win after he bulldogged through five innings of one-run ball, but Mize’s teammates rallied for a five-run seventh during an atypical outing from Chris Stratton to even the series heading into Sunday’s rubber match.

“They had one big inning, really, is what it boils down to, but our guys battled until the end,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Kansas City built a 3-0 lead on Mize thanks to early RBIs from Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez and Maikel Garcia. Singer, meanwhile, issued three early walks but allowed just one run. Both former SEC stars were at their best in the third inning, when Mize sat down the Royals in order and Singer countered by striking out the side around a one-out single.

There’s a big difference, of course, between April baseball in the Major Leagues and the win-or-bust atmosphere that surrounded Singer and Mize six seasons ago, when Singer’s Gators topped Mize’s (other) Tigers in that three-game set in 2018 to advance to the College World Series before falling in the Final Four to Arkansas.

Neither hurler said that their first MLB battle had added incentive, but Mize, who allowed a career-high-tying six earned runs in that final college start, and Singer, the No. 18 overall pick in that year’s MLB Draft who watched the Detroit Tigers choose Mize first overall, sure pitched on Saturday like the friendly rivalry was alive and well.

“We were two Draft prospects at the time, so [there were] a lot of people there, a lot of eyes on us,” Singer said. “The two offenses were really good, too, so we had some really good battles. It was really fun.”

Even more fun, each side agreed, was when the entire team gets involved in the battle. Kansas City and Detroit each boast young, talented teams finding their way in the American League Central. That competitive fire was evident, especially in the Royals, who used RBIs from Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. off reliever Jason Foley to rally to within one in the ninth inning. Those marked the only earned runs Foley has allowed this season.

“That guy [Foley] is nasty. He's one of the best closers in the game,” said Perez, who also doubled off Mize in the fifth. “Pretty big sinker, pretty good slider, and to put up a couple of runs against him is pretty good.”

Despite the Royals’ eventual loss, Singer has taken his reputation as a Tiger tamer into the pros, where he has more career wins vs. Detroit than against any other team. In 13 career starts, Singer is 6-1 vs. the Tigers with a 3.30 ERA. Tommy John and back surgeries hampered Mize’s career for nearly two years, but he earned his first win since 2021 on Sunday and early numbers suggest that this could be the season a great rivalry is reborn.

If not solely between the talented guys on the mound, then certainly for their respective teams, which sit just 1 1/2 games apart in the division.