Cougars Sweep Santa Clara Behind Combined No-Hitter

PULLMAN, Wash. — Four Washington State pitchers combined to no-hit Santa Clara as the Cougars finished off a sweep with a 5-0 win at Bailey-Brayton Field Sunday afternoon.

Washington State (13-20) recorded its second no-hitter of the season after Scotty Sunitsch no-hit Oregon three weeks ago April 8. It is the first time WSU has tossed two no-hitters in the same season since also throwing two in 1976. The Cougars swept the three-game series with Santa Clara (16-21) for the first series sweep of 2018 and first since taking all four games from Utah Valley last season.

Cougar starting pitcher Parker McFadden , making his first start since 2016, struck out four in five innings, also walked two and hit one batter. Lefthander A.J. Block struck out one in the next 1.1 innings before righthander Collin Maier got the final two outs in the seventh. Senior closer Ryan Walker worked the final two innings and struck out three along the way. Offensively, Andres Alvarez doubled and tripled while Dillon Plew had a two-run double. The Cougars scored three runs in the second and twice more in the fifth.

In the second inning, Robert Teel started the inning with an opposite field single through the right side and one batter later Mason De La Cruz drew a walk. Alvarez delivered an opposite field double off the right field wall that scored Teel from second. Dillon Plew followed with a two-run double into right centerfield for a 3-0 Cougar lead.

McFadden ran into some trouble in the third inning after a walk, a stolen base and a hit-by-pitch saw runners on the corners with one out but the righthander struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

In the fifth, the Cougars tacked on two more runs on a Collin Montez RBI-single back up the middle before WSU executed a first and third double steal as Montez stole second and Blake Clanton stole home on the plate for a 5-0 WSU lead.

In the seventh inning, with runners on first and second and one out, WSU called up senior Collin Maier who struck out the first hitter he faced before retiring the next hitter on a fielder’s choice groundout.

Walker fired a perfect eight and allowed a one-out walk in the ninth before ending the game with a pair of strikeouts.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Andres Alvarez walked in the 1st inning, extending his on-base streak to 11 games
Alvarez doubled off the right field wall in the 2 nd inning, extending his hitting streak to 10 games
Blake Clanton walked in the 1 st inning, extending his on-base streak to 10 games
Ryan Walker made his 78 th career appearance, tied for 4 th -most in WSU history
JJ Hancock saw his 18-game on-base streak snapped after a pinch-hit strikeout in the 8th
Parker McFadden recorded his first win of the season

NEXT UP
The Cougars head to Seattle next week for a Wednesday contest at Seattle U before facing Washington in a three-game weekend series beginning Friday.