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lose. I trusted my stuff and my breaking pitches, I just needed to show it.”

After a slew of quality relief outings, he was put back into the starting rotation against UC-Santa Barbra. The following week he recorded a six-inning, 10-strikeout outing against UC-Irvine, surrendering just one hit.

“I was confident,” WattsBrown. “Any time I’m confident, I feel like nobody can touch me.”

***

Balderama stood alongside her son as the hot, California sun glazed down on her. May 8, 2022. Mother’s Day. Balderama and mothers of other teammates were honored. Then, it was game time.

Watts-Brown said he vividly remembers the California afternoon skyline adorning the view of his mother in the stands.

He remembers smiling as he threw his first warm-up pitch.

“My walk-out songs always pump me up, but that sent joy through my body,” Watts-Brown said. “My mom, knowing all she’s done for me to help me get through life and seeing her there, it fueled me.”

His first inning featured a 1-2-3 frame in just seven pitches. So far, so good.

Through three innings, Watts-Brown had six strikeouts and still hadn’t put a batter on base.

“It just felt like a regular outing,” Watts-Brown said. “I didn’t know at that point I hadn’t given up a hit.”

In the top of the fourth, he surrendered his first walk. The thought of a ruined perfect game clouded his head, but there was another glaring possibility: a no-hitter.

Through six, he threw 11 strikeouts with his lone blemish being the walk. As the game progressed, WattsBrown felt stronger. By the ninth inning, everyone knew what was at stake. In the midst of the noise, he saw his mother, smiling and clapping in sync with the crowd.

“Let’s do this,” he said to himself. “One more inning. One more.”

Three at-bats later, he had done it. A complete-game no-hitter, the first in Long Beach State history. WattsBrown have his mom the ball from the final out.

“It was the perfect Mother’s Day gift a baseball mom could ask for,” Balderama said. “It hit me that moment and I just couldn’t believe it.”

Watts-Brown’s 3.68 ERA and 110 strikeouts for that year garnered national attention and made him an All-Big West Conference honorable mention. Even then, he wanted to prove himself at a higher level.

Two months later, he committed to OSU.

Watts-Brown’s lone season as OSU’s ace pitcher has been up and down.

Prior to the Cowboys’ series at TCU in April, he was listed on D1Baseball’s midseason All-American watchlist, donning 2.61 ERA. He was also tabbed as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award – given to the nation’s top amateur baseball player.

Since, his ERA has elevated to 4.50, his strikeout rate has dwindled along with his strikeout-to-walk ratio.

This Friday, OSU will face Oral Roberts in the Stillwater Regional at O’Brate Stadium, with Watts-Brown getting the start on the mound.

If the Cowboys hope to make a run to the College World Series for the first time since 2016, they’ll need their early-season ace back – the one who dominated a top-25 Texas team in an eight-inning, 12-strikeout performance.

But he’s been through it before. And each time, he’s come back a better version of himself. As a result, a prime opportunity awaits him.

“I feel like everything that has happened to him, happened for a reason,” Balderama said. “It hasn’t been straight. It hasn’t been easy, but I truly believe he’s ended up where he belongs.” sports.ed@ocolly.com