PORTLAND, Ore.—Following an opening game where Western Oregon did not allow an earned run,
Austin Crowson registered the team's third no-hitter in the school's NCAA DII-era as part of a doubleheader sweep over Concordia on Thursday.
Western Oregon defeated Concordia in the afternoon game 12-5 with all five CU runs going down as unearned scores. The Wolves returned with two runs in the top of the 5th to carry Crowson to his seven-inning no-hit win.
With the results, Western Oregon (24-10) clinched a spot in the GNAC tournament and improved to 21-10 in GNAC play. Concordia fell to 14-29 overall and 12-22 in league games.
The Wolves opened the scoring in both games during sprees in the top of the 5th. WOU placed five runs on the board in the afternoon game to break the scoreless string only for Concordia to match the offering with five of their own in the home half of the inning.
In a theme throughout the season, Western Oregon countered immediately and broke the game open once again with a six-run 6th.
Alex Roth and
Jacob Fricke combined to hold Concordia to just four hits, though the Cavaliers managed five unearned runs against Roth. Roth struck out eight and walked five while Fricke picked up the win with 4 1/3 innings of work where the Cavs mustered just a single hit.
Connor McCord,
Griffey Halle and
Jacob Maiben all recorded three-hit games in the opener.
Crowson (4-1) pitched four clean innings before the Wolves scraped together a pair of runs in the top of the 5th.
Maiben opened the stanza with a single through the left-side of the infield and was soon batted in by a single from
Blayze Arcano.
Patrick Chung followed with an RBI single to right that plated
Mitchell Hulse, who reached on a five-pitch walk.
Armed with the 2-0 lead, Crowson did not allow a Cavalier to reach base while retiring the final 10 batters he faced. Crowson struck out nine batters in the game and two each in the final two frames.
Crowson walked four batters in the game, including three straight two-out passes to load the bases in the 4th. The junior lefty got out of the jam with a fly to right off the bat of CU catcher Isaac Lovings.
The no-hit performance was the fifth ever in GNAC history and the third since WOU joined NCAA DII.
Blake Keitzaman was the most recent WOU pitcher to toss a no-hitter with a 1-0 win over Saint Martin's during the 2010 season. Luke Holscher no-hit Colorado Mesa in a 3-0 win in the 2004 season.
