This weekend's three-game series against the Florida State Seminoles drew a handful of firsts for the ASU baseball team under head coach Pat Murphy - highlighted by the first back-to-back walk-off victories in Murphy's ten-year tenure.
"It's nice to come out and have two exciting finishes right off the bat," Murphy said. "It's just about being relentless."
A 2-1 comeback victory on Friday came with two outs and junior catcher Tuffy Gosewisch down to his last strike with the bases loaded. With the Devils down 1-0, FSU was one strike away from ending ASU's 501-game streak without a shutout before Gosewisch hit a two-run double.
Another come-from-behind win on Saturday was just as impressive. With ASU down two runs heading into the ninth, freshmen Colin Curtis and Joe Persichina, and a cast of first-year players rallied the team with three runs, all coming with two outs already on the board.
"That sets the tone for the rest of the season," Curtis said. "It just shows us that no game is ever over. [In the future] we can be down in the ninth and look back to these two games and have something to go on."
Breaking out the broom
ASU's three-game sweep of the Seminoles was the first in the history of the program.
"Not too many teams have swept Florida State - period," Murphy said. "It wasn't the best college baseball to be seen, but it's a pretty nice way to start."
The sweep marked the first time since 2001 that the 'Noles had been swept in a non-conference series.
The 3-0 start also marked the first time the Sun Devils had won a three game set against the 'Noles in Murphy's ten years.
Before this weekend, Murphy had been 4-14 against the 'Noles in the six previous series the teams had played.
This weekend was the first of six series in which the team will face ranked opponents. The Sun Devils take on No. 1 Rice Owls in two weeks.
As good as advertised
Several Sun Devil recruits played big roles against the Seminoles including ASU's two most highly regarded newcomers, Curtis and junior pitcher Jason Urquidez.
Curtis earned ASU offensive player of the week honors as he went 4-for-12 over the weekend with six RBI and a home run, which landed on Rural Road.
"Murphy told me to see my area and be aggressive to my zone," Curtis said. "[The pitch] was a little bit up so I was super-aggressive."
Curtis almost single-handedly won Saturday's game with three hits, two of which went for extra bases, including a game-tying double and the game's winning run.
Urquidez was named the team's pitcher of the week, giving up only one earned run in a 12-6 blowout on Sunday while compiling nine strikeouts in just five innings of work.
"[Urquidez] was locating his fastball, and his change-up was outstanding," pitching coach Chris Sionacori said. "In my mind, he's going to be one of the best starting pitchers in the country some day."
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu