Following a string of disappointing losses for ASU baseball, junior starting pitcher Alec Marsh dueled as he pitched through nine innings to record a 4-1 win for the Sun Devils (27-5, 10-3 Pac-12).
In his first career complete game, Marsh threw 121 pitches, nine strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits.
After the team's worst week of the season, Marsh said for him it was "hard to swallow."
But he said developing a "short memory" and moving on after the loss was key for the Sun Devils coming into their Friday night outing against the Oregon State Beavers (23-8-1, 9-4-0).
"We lost focus for the last week and a half to two weeks all around, especially on the pitching side," Marsh said. "So for me, this game was really important to kind of kick start everything back and since the day after UNLV I was just working really hard to try to stay focused."
But the junior was going to have to jump through some early defensive hoops after allowing a solo home-run, giving the Beavers a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
The Sun Devils' offense didn't let the early deficit get the best of them, as the bats came swinging in the bottom of the second and ASU took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back singles.
Sophomore outfielder Trevor Hauver credited hitting coach Michael Earley for the Sun Devils' ability to connect early in the game by providing film and pitching statistics on their opponents, such as counts and tendencies.
Unlike the loss to University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Sun Devils' fourth and final run of the night came at a cost of a free base allowed by the Beavers.
ASU will return to the diamond to take on the Beavers again on Saturday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at Edith.Noriega@asu.edu or follow @Noriega_Edith on Twitter.
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