if each side got three outs in three pitches each inning. That's 6 pitches per inning for 8 innings that's 48 pitches. In the 9th inning the away team would get 3 outs in 3 pitches, but the home team only needs 1 pitch to get a walk-off home run to win. Thus 52 pitches is the minimum number of pitches for a complete 9 inning game.