Stephen Strasburg's brilliant pitching performance was marked by a place in the record books and a long line of sunflower seeds on San Diego State's bench.

The Aztecs' sophomore right-hander had the outing of a lifetime last Friday, setting school and Mountain West Conference records with 23 strikeouts in a 1-0, one-hit victory over Utah.

"I've seen a lot of baseball and seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anything like that," said Tony Gwynn, the Aztecs' coach and a Hall of Famer.

As the strikeouts piled up, Strasburg's teammates found a creative way to keep track of every punchout.

"In our dugout, a couple of players were actually lining up sunflower seeds — one for every strikeout," Strasburg said. "They showed me that after the game and it was kind of funny."

Strasburg's performance was no laughing matter, though.

The 23 strikeouts tied for the third most in Division I history, and were the most in a game since Miami's Neal Heaton also had 23 against Indiana State in 1981. The NCAA record is 26 by Miami of Ohio's Buddy Schultz against Wright State in 1973, while LSU's Butch Mixon struck out 24 against Louisiana-Lafayette in 1959.

The University of Hawaii record is 20, set by Derek Tatsuno in Oregon in 1978.

"He was as good as it gets," Gwynn said of Strasburg. "I don't think I'll ever see anything like that again."

The native of San Diego, who pitched in front of a large contingent of family and friends, allowed only a single up the middle by Michael Beltran in the sixth inning.

"I know I racked up a lot of strikeouts and everything, but that definitely wasn't my goal by any means," said Strasburg, who struck out the side five times and fanned the last two batters of the game. "I was trying to get the ball in play and throw strikes. I was trying to use the defense as much as possible, but I guess it didn't work out that way."

Not at all. He allowed four baserunners — Beltran's single, a walk, a hit batter and an error — and none passed second base.

"When he struck out the side in the first and got two of the three in the second, you kind of knew, 'Hey, man, this could be one of those nights,"' Gwynn said. "I think he got to 17 at the end of six and I asked my pitching coach, 'What's the school record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game?' He didn't know and I didn't know, but the crowd knew because when he struck out his 19th guy, people were standing behind the plate, clapping for him."

Mixing a fastball in the high-90s with a solid changeup and slider, Strasburg easily surpassed the previous school record of 18, set by John Hemmerly in 1988.

"I didn't really know how many strikeouts I had during the game," said Strasburg, who felt strong after missing his previous start with an ear infection. "I knew I was up there, but it was just one of those nights where all of my pitches were working for me."

Gwynn could compare it only to the 16-strikeout performance Kevin Brown had for the Padres in the 1998 NL Division Series against Houston.

"In college, when you get a dominating guy on the mound, you would think you'd see that more often, but 23 punchouts, man, I'm still shaking my head," Gwynn said. "After that game, I went home and took the disc of the game and was looking to see what I thought happened had actually happened."

Despite all the strikeouts, Strasburg wasn't sure he'd even get the win. The game was scoreless until the Aztecs got an unearned run in the seventh inning.

Strasburg is 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA, 73 strikeouts and just eight walks in 50 1-3 innings this season after earning seven saves as a freshman. Gwynn moved him out of the bullpen and into the rotation because he lost his starting staff to the baseball draft last year.

"It's definitely different because if you have an outing you don't like, you have to wait a week before you can redeem yourself," Strasburg said. "But I really love being out there for more than one inning."

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Strasburg has quickly become the staff ace, and a projected first-round pick for the 2009 draft.

"He's only a sophomore, but any time you've got Scott Boras at a game sitting behind the plate, you know the guy must be good," Gwynn said with a chuckle. "Every night Stephen walks out of the ballpark, not only are the scouts and agents waiting to talk to him, but the kids are asking for his autograph now, too."