Tempe: Sun Devils on a Roll

By Jason Owens - June 03, 2007

Ok -- I know I'm supposed be out on the town by now, but I just got a look at the box score from ASU's win over Riverside and it's scary how locked in the offense and the pitching is. Mike Leake got nine innings of support tonight, but didn't need most of it as ASU Coach Pat Murphy summed it up best.

"When (Leake) is locked in, you can see it in his demeanor on the mound... They don't know what pitch is coming. It is just amazing. He could have pitched 16 innings tonight."

Nine was all they needed and that's what they got as Leake's complete game included 10 strikeouts, four hits, two runs and one walk. When he showed up in the seventh inning with six more runs of support to work with, it didn't change his approach at all.

"I try not to think about it," Leake said. "I try to think of us losing, or we're down -- just to stay focused... I try not to look at the scoreboard."

Stay focused is exactly what he did. And his performance comes on the heels of Brian Flores' eight-inning clinic on Friday where he struck out eight batters and gave up one earned run on three hits.

And the Sun Devils haven't even thrown their best pitcher yet. Josh Satow will take the mound on Sunday sporting an 11-3 record and 2.23 ERA. He'll face the winner of the afternoon's Nebraska-Riverside matchup. The way things are going, though, I don't think the opponent will really make a difference.

With that, I'm out. I promise.