Three Tigers Combine to Throw 10th No-Hitter in @MizzouBaseball History

Friday, March 2

Columbia, Mo.

6:30 p.m.

University of Missouri

8-3

UMBC

1-4

UMBC

Mizzou

Three Tigers Combine to Throw 10th No-Hitter in @MizzouBaseball History

3/2/2018 10:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

No-hitter is the first for Mizzou since 2005 when Max Scherzer and Michael Cole no-hit Texas Tech on April 1

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball RS junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.) tossed 7.0 innings of no-hit baseball as three Tigers combined to throw Mizzou's first no-hitter since 2005 in a 7-1 win over Maryland-Baltimore County Friday night (March 2) at Taylor Stadium. Montes De Oca's 7.0 innings are a new career-high as are his 12 strikeouts. He walked just two and Mizzou played errorless baseball behind him.

Junior Giovanni Lopez (Goodyear, Ariz.) pitched the eighth inning, picking up a pair of strikeouts. UMBC did score on the inning as a strikeout victim reached base on a wild pitch and came around to score without a hit. Senior righty Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) then tossed a perfect ninth inning, picking up a pair of strikeouts.

The no-hitter for Mizzou is its 10^th in program history and first since Max Scherzer and Michael Cole combined to no-hit Texas Tech on April 1, 2005. A complete list of Mizzou's no-hitters is located below in the 'game notes' section.

Mizzou goes to 8-3 on the year while UMBC falls to 1-4. Montes De Oca earned the win, improving to 2-0 on the year.

TURNING POINT

Montes De Oca was sensational early in the game, retiring the side in order in the first, picking up a pair of strikeouts in the process. Mizzou's bats then plated two runs in the bottom of the frame. The first came on an RBI groundout by Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) and the next on an RBI single through the left side by Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.). Those two carried Mizzou's offense all night, but it was pitching that was the story for much of remaining innings.

TOP TIGERS

RS junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca was the story Friday night, allowing no hits over 7.0 dominant innings. He struck out a career-high 12 and allowed just two base runners (both walks) while keeping the Retrievers off the board. He reset career-bests in strikeouts, innings and hits allowed.
Junior 3B Brian Sharp continued his torrid stretch as of late. He went 3-for-4 with a run and three RBIs with a double Friday.
Sophomore 1B Kameron Misner finished a single shy of the cycle while going 3-for-4 with a homer, three runs and three RBIs.

In @TexLittleSS voice: Popped up! Vierling has is measured!#Mizzou has thrown the 10th no-hitter in program history! #MIZ #C2E ???? pic.twitter.com/8xHGE864zS
— #MizzouBaseball (@MizzouBaseball) March 3, 2018

QUOTING MIZZOU

Head Coach Steve Bieser:
Opening Statement…
"I can't remember the last no-hitter I was a part of, but I very rarely remember what happened yesterday. It's been a long time, I can't recall the last one. I got caught up watching Lopez and Gromacki getting after it. I knew when we took Bryce out that he had the no-hitter intact, but 98 pitches; he wasn't getting through two more innings so it was the right time for him. I was just enjoying watching the way those two guys threw the ball. Then whenever our guys started to celebrate after the last out, I thought it was a little bit more than normal. Then I realized it was a no-hitter again. I am really proud of the way our pitching staff threw the ball tonight."

RS Junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca
Opening Statement…
"It felt good. It was a good day all across the board for the entire pitching staff, offense defense. It was a great day across the board."

On being first Mizzou starter to be a part of a no-hitter since Max Scherzer in 2005...
"It's pretty cool. He's obviously a really good pitcher. I just did what I had to do. We had a great day as a team and that's all I can really say about that."

NOTES

Mizzou now leads the all-time series with UMBC, 1-0.
Mizzou moves to 3-0 on Friday nights
The no-hitter is the 10^th in Mizzou history and first since 2005 when Max Scherzer and Michael Cole combined to no-hit Texas Tech. The other nine are below:
- April 13, 1956 – Norm Stewart vs. Arkansas
- April 10, 1957 – Ernie Nevers, Don Miller, Ralph Schultz vs. Washington (Mo.)
- April 7, 1962 – Larry Bohannon vs. Iowa State
- April 25, 1964 – Dennis Musgraves vs. Kansas State
- April 19, 1977 – Steve Shockey vs. St. Louis
- March 8, 1980 – Craig Fitzpatrick vs. Purdue
- March 15, 1981 - Dave Spreckels, Bob Baker vs. Iowa
- May 3, 1981 – Jim Maddock vs. Nebraska
- April 1, 2005 – Max Scherzer, Michael Cole vs. Texas Tech
Freshman Chad McDaniel made his first career start Friday, getting the nod at DH. He tallied his first career hit in the win.
Sophomore 1B Kameron Misner hit his third homer of the season Friday night, a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third inning. Misner added a double and a triple, finishing a single shy of the cycle.
Junior 3B Brian Sharp went 2-for-2, extending his hitting streak to eight games, the longest by a Tiger this season. He also posted his fifth multi-hit game of the season.
Over his last five games, Sharp is 13-for-15 with nine runs, 13 RBI, two doubles, a triple, two homers and three walks. He has reached base in 16 of 18 plate appearances (.889) and has 23 total bases.
Bryce Montes De Oca reset his career-high in strikeouts (12) and innings pitched (7.0) in his third start of the season

UP NEXT

Mizzou and Maryland-Baltimore County will play game two of the series Saturday at 2 p.m. For all the latest on Mizzou Baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouBaseball) and like the team on Facebook (Mizzou Baseball) and Instagram (missouri_baseball).