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Former LSU Pitcher Butch Mixon Passes Away

Right-Hander Set the SEC Single-Game Strikeout Record in 1959

by Bill Franques | Sr. Associate Communications Director
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Former LSU Pitcher Butch Mixon Passes Away

BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU pitcher Wallace Louis “Butch” Mixon Jr. passed away on Tuesday in Baton Rouge at the age of 80.

Visitation is on Friday at First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge – 763 North Blvd., from 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. with a service immediately following. 

An All-State basketball player at Baton Rouge High School, Mixon signed an athletic scholarship at LSU to play basketball and baseball. 

On April 28, 1959, he established the SEC single-game record with 24 strikeouts – a mark that still stands today – in an outing versus Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. He led the LSU pitching staff with 87 strikeouts in 1959 and 61 Ks in 1960.

After his junior year at LSU, he signed a Major League contract with the Houston Colt .45s (later the Astros) in 1960. However, his pro career was cut short by a back injury.

Mixon graduated from LSU in 1964 and went to work at Louisiana National Bank as a loan officer. After 10 years, he entered the automobile business, becoming a minority owner and general manager of Baton Rouge Honda, until it was sold in 1989.

He ended his professional career as a legal investigator for the East Baton Rouge Parish Attorney’s Office. In his later years, he enjoyed playing tennis and golf and spending time with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.