A College No-Hitter We'll Never See Again

Eamonn Collins toed the rubber for the bottom of the ninth inning as his University of South Carolina-Beaufort Sand Sharks looked to do the impossible: combine for a no-hitter against the Columbia International Rams. He struck out Cole Casico to start the frame. Two outs away. Then, Cade Gentry went down swinging. USCB was one out away from being the talk of NAIA baseball circles for weeks. Corley Cheeks swung through Collins' offering for the third out and the Sand Sharks had completed their no-hitter, final score...11-7.

In one of the craziest games in program history, the USCB pitching corps combined for a no-hitter, 13-strikeout performance in the four-run win!The Sand Shark offense also exploded for 14 hits, including six extra-base hits!#RisingTide#FinsUphttps://t.co/g5hU5sSuQS-- USCBBaseball (@USCBBase)February 10, 2021

In one of the craziest games in program history, the USCB pitching corps combined for a no-hitter, 13-strikeout performance in the four-run win!The Sand Shark offense also exploded for 14 hits, including six extra-base hits!#RisingTide#FinsUphttps://t.co/g5hU5sSuQS

Only in baseball do we get an opportunity to see something we've never seen multiple times a year. The sport has been around for nearly two centuries, but we always manage to see something new. How the Columbia International baseball team managed to score seven runs without recording a hit is just short of a miracle. Andy Hawkins once no-hit the White Sox and his Yankees lost 4-0. That's the most runs ever allowed in a major-league no-hitter (all four of them were unearned). Somehow, three of CIU's runs in their 11-7 defeat were actually earned. Let's dive into the box score to see how this once-in-a-generation result came to be.

Down 2-0 by the time they got their first cuts, CIU rallied. Leadoff hitter Carter Willis was issued a free pass. Promptly, he stole secondandthird base. Joshua Hernandez followed with a walk of his own, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. No. 3 hitter Bryce Spittle grounded out to the pitcher, but Willis came in to score, cutting the lead in half. Hernandez also advanced to second base. Robert Bell, the clean-up hitter, reached base thanks to an error by the second baseman and Hernandez moved over to third. Then, Hernandez stole home. Just like that, without recording a hit, the Rams had tied the game at two apiece. The Sand Sharks were able to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Four walks in the second inning gave CIU a 3-2 lead without having to swing. Things quieted down (relatively) until the sixth inning with CIU trailing 5-3. Buddy Bleasdale and Cheeks each reached on walks. Price Alexander, pinch-running for Bleasdale, stole third base and Cheeks moved up to second on a throwing error by the pitcher. Hernandez followed by flying out to left and Alexander tagged up, cutting the lead to 5-4.

Finally, USCB put some distance between itself and CIU, scoring four runs over the next two frames to extend the lead to 9-4. But the bottom of the eighth is where things got interesting...and then comical. Cade Gentry was walked, then Cheeks was hit by a pitch. Two men on, nobody out. Willis was issued a free pass as well, giving the Rams the bases loaded, still nobody out.

After a pitching change, Hernandez was also walked...so the inning began with a walk, a hit by pitch, and two more walks. 9-5, Sand Sharks. On a Spittle flyout to center, pitcher Javier Saenz made a throwing and fielding error, allowing two more runs to score, and all of a sudden, the Rams were within two, 9-7. But with runners on the corners and two outs, Alex Miller struck out swinging, ending the Rams threat. Collins, who struck out Miller in the eighth, closed the door in the ninth, ensuring a combined no-hitter for the Sand Sharks in the least likely of all possible ways.

Columbia International reached base 17 times without swinging the bat (15 walks, two HBP), so they had ample opportunity to score runs without having to make contact. They also stole five bases. USCB committedsix errors, three of them coming from reliever Javier Saenz, who two-thirds of an inning. It took 204 pitches, but UCSB locked up the unique no-hitter and more importantly held on to win, 11-7.

We're unlikely to see another no-hitter like it anytime soon, so let's appreciate its weird, off-the-wall nature and the beauty that each new baseball game presents us no matter the level of competition.