(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
As Blake Burzell took the mound and toed the rubber, the brisk Fullerton, California air, flirting with a rainstorm, brushed up against the freshman pitcher, blowing from left to right field.
It was not a test, it was a job. Burzell was tasked with getting one out in the seventh inning. He did that.
But, as the 6’6 freshman relief pitcher wound-up and delivered his first pitch of the eighth inning, all of his 2019 success slipped from his grasp.
Burzell struggled. He loaded the bases, did not get an out and forced Tracy Smith to put Alec Marsh into the game. Two base hits off Marsh later, the game, once commanded by the Devil’s 6-0 lead, was just a two-run ballgame and ASU’s perfect 11-0 start to the season was in jeopardy.
But therein was the challenge for a Sun Devil team that finds itself just 11 wins shy of last year’s win total: would they hold on to their hard earned victory?
The answer, despite taking the scenic route to get there, was they did.
ASU took the victory from a storied Cal State Fullerton program that has long been the exclamation point on the Devils’ early-season schedule.
It was their ‘prove it’ set of games and they took the first one despite the Titans’ valiant attempt at a comeback.
“We played really, really, well,” Coach Smith said. “I thought the pitching with guys coming in and picking each other up was great.”
It was not just Alec Marsh’s surprise relief of Blake Burzell that “picked up” a teammate. In the bottom of the third inning, Brady Corrigan relieved starting pitcher, Sam Romero with runners on second and third and just one out. He struck out both of the next two batters.
Corrigan went on to strike out his first six batters faced, setting a new career high for single-game strikeouts. But, even with a personal accolade achieved quite emphatically, Corrigan’s performance meant more than just a personal best.
It was about resilience.
Arizona State’s baseball team has proven to be small but mighty early on in 2019.
Against Fullerton, Corrigan and Marsh stepped up when they were called upon. Alika Williams, who has never been known for his power “…put his head down and got a ball out of here,” collecting his first collegiate home run on a 1-1 curveball in the third inning. Carter Aldrete played second base in the absence of Drew Swift and Myles Denson picked him up by playing right field.
The team’s maturity in those situations has been impressive too.
On a night where the defense was excellent and the pitching, outside of one inning, was spotless, ASU played a different brand of baseball than in any 2018 contest.
It has won them games.
“Our mindset is just one game at a time,” Smith said. “Let’s just win this game.”
Game by game, they have won each time. Arizona State has won and then forgotten it, each day another opening day. For Smith, for Marsh and for everyone else on this 27-man roster, one game is all the motivation they need to get another win.
For ASU, the weather dictated their next opponent. Fullerton rain showers forced the Titans and the Devils to cancel the series finale tonight. However, a team official shared that the teams would look into a new date for a makeup game later on in the season. For now, the game will not be listed as postponed, it is a cancellation.
The Devils will travel back home to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to host the Xavier Musketeers for their last non-conference series before heading into Pac-12 play. Game one of the series is slated for Friday at 6:30 p.m..
