photo by: Nick Krug

Free State pitcher Hunter Gudde sends a pitch to a Sioux Falls O'Gorman batter during the third inning on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at Hoglund Ballpark.

Death, taxes and strong pitching from Free State High senior Hunter Gudde.

It’s almost becoming a certainty that Gudde, Mr. Consistency, will dominate when he’s on the mound. He dazzled once again on Saturday afternoon, throwing a two-hitter and leading his baseball team to a 4-0 victory over Sioux Falls (S.D.) O’Gorman at Kansas University’s Hoglund Ballpark, striking out seven.

More than anything, Gudde was efficient. He only reached one three-ball count against the 23 batters he faced, completing the game in 67 pitches.

It didn’t take long for the Firebirds to realize Gudde was sharper than usual Saturday — even by his standards.

“When he throws his breaking ball for a first-pitch strike, you know he’s on,” junior shortstop Matt Hill said.

Gudde, a Johnson County Community College commit, allowed three baserunners in seven innings: two hits and an error. He erased the error with a game-ending double play.

The two hits he allowed, back-to-back singles into shallow center field in the fifth inning, and one fly out to left field were the only balls that left the infield.

A bonus for Gudde is his ability to field his position on the mound. Pitching in low-scoring games makes it even more crucial. The right-hander grabbed four comebackers up the middle, turning them all into outs.

“My arm felt great,” said Gudde, who has given up two earned runs in 28 innings this season. “Every pitch was working for me.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Gudde featured a low-80s fastball, a curveball that dropped below bats, and a change-up that he didn’t need to use much Saturday. His pitches don’t usually overpower opposing hitters, but the way he locates pitches does. He struck out five hitters on called third strikes.

He admitted he had some nerves after hearing O’Gorman hitters scored 22 runs on Friday night, but after throwing the first inning, he said he started “getting into a groove.”

“He pounds the zone with multiple pitches,” FSHS coach Mike Hill said. “He doesn’t make very many mistakes. Hitting is timing and pitching is a disruption of timing and he does it as well as anybody we’ve had here.”

Gudde set himself up for some run support in the fourth inning. He was hit by a pitch and his courtesy runner, junior Chris Anderson, advanced to third on an error. Then Matt Hill hit a two-strike pitch to the opposite field for an RBI single. Junior Dale Miller scored later in the frame on a groundout.

“He’s coming along,” Mike Hill said of his son. “He still has a ways to go with the stick and we know that. His job is to play defense and he’s done a good job with that so far. Anything we can get offensively from him is a bonus.”

In the fifth inning, after the Firebirds (10-1) loaded the bases without a hit, Gudde hit an RBI single into right field. Junior third baseman Zion Bowlin, who went 2-for-2 and was hit by a pitch, scored on the next at-bat on a double play.

“It brought my confidence up a little bit,” said Gudde, who was 1-for-9 at the plate in the last two games. “I’ve been hitting it right to people lately.”

With Gudde on the mound, the Firebirds know they don’t need to provide him with much run support. He can do the rest, especially when he’s pitching at his best — which is becoming more common with a 15-inning scoreless streak.

The Firebirds have won six straight games, including all three in the River City Festival over the weekend.

“The kids are just playing well,” Mike Hill said. “There are lapses here and there. We weren’t real good between the ears Thursday night. Today, I’d tell you that we weren’t real good offensively. But the consistency with our pitching and our defense, it will keep you in games at this level — at any level, quite frankly.”

O’Gorman 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

Free State 000 220 x — 4 6 1

W — Hunter Gudde, 4-0. L — Chandler Schaefbauer.

2B — Kendall Fritzel, FS.

Free State highlights — Gudde, 2-for-2, RBI, run, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K; Zion Bowlin, 2-for-2, run; Matt Hill, 1-for-2, walk, RBI.