Utah Utes baseball: Pitcher ignores hype, stays focused on helping Aztecs win

On June 9, the Washington Nationals are expected to make Stephen Strasburg a very rich man. The 20-year-old San Diego State pitcher is expected to be the No. 1 pick in this year's baseball draft.

Fame and fortune, obviously, will accompany the selection.

Question is, how does Strasburg maintain his focus while wrapping up his career with the Aztecs?

"What it really comes down to is if you're in it for the right reasons. I owe so much to this program," Strasburg said. "They've really helped me out throughout my career here. My No. 1 goal ever since I stepped on campus is to help get this team to a regional and put it on a national stage."

Strasburg and the Aztecs will likely have to win next week's Mountain West Conference tournament in Fort Worth to make that happen.

"We've still got games to play and our mission isn't accomplished," Strasburg said after Thursday's 11-2 win over Utah at Lindquist Field in Ogden.

The victory upped the 6-foot-5, 220-pound righthander's record this season to 12-0. He finished the regular season with a 1.34 ERA, striking out 174 batters in 941?3 innings.

In the recent win over Utah, Strasburg overcame an early 2-0 deficit and worked himself out of a couple of tough spots later in the game while racking up 10 strikeouts.

"That's a part of pitching. You're going to be faced with a lot of jams throughout a game," Strasburg said. "That's what separates the good ones from the not so good ones. You've got to have the ability to make a good pitch in big situations."

Consistency and focus are among many of Strasburg's traits that have impressed Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, the head coach at San Diego State.

"With all the stuff going around us and around him, it's amazing a 20-year-old can still focus on the job at hand. People want to ask him about the draft and they ask him about pitching at the next level," Gwynn said.

"He's been pushing it off and saying: 'Hey, that day will come. I'm just going to go out there and do what I can to help San Diego State win.' "

And that's not all.

"I'm continually amazed at how mature he is for 20. I think that's the thing people forget when you pick up the paper, you turn on the TV and you read about him," Gwynn said. "He throws 102 (mph) and they think he's really bigger than life."

That, however, isn't really the case.

"He's still a college athlete. He's still a student-athlete. He wants to do the things college kids want to do," Gwynn explained. "But when he's out there on that hill, he's a lot more mature than most 20-year-olds. I've seen a lot, and he's been really impressive."

E-mail: dirk@desnews.com