StarBulletin.com

Oh, no! UH no-hit


By

POSTED: Friday, March 27, 2009

Cody Wheeler once struck out 22 batters in a high school game, but he had never pitched a no-hitter.

                                                                       

     

 

C. CAROLINA4
HAWAII0

———

       

NEXT UP

       

vs. C. Car., DH, today

       

 

       

That is, until last night.

The sophomore left-hander became the first player to throw a nine-inning no-hitter against Hawaii, sealing the deal by getting Kevin Macdonald to fly out to center to cap No. 18 Coastal Carolina's 4-0 victory over the Rainbows before a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,641.

Hawaii (13-9) had been no-hit three times previously. Two of those were by multiple pitchers and the third was in a seven-inning game.

“;It was his night,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;He made the pitches and they made the plays they needed to.”;

Wheeler (5-0) finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts and three walks in going the distance for the first time. The no-hitter was the first against Hawaii since 1998 and first at home since 1982.

“;My heart was racing 100 miles an hour. I could barely breathe,”; Wheeler said. “;When (Macdonald) hit that last ball I thought it was a hit and my heart just dropped, but then I see Rico (Noel) hunt it down and it was the greatest feeling in the world.”;

Hawaii starter Jayson Kramer matched Wheeler for five innings before Coastal Carolina (19-4) jumped on the board for two runs in the sixth.

Scott Woodward, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs, started it with an infield single on a close play at first. The throw from Macdonald to Kramer covering first base was ahead of the runner, but the umpire ruled Kramer didn't touch the base for the out.

“;I touched the base,”; Kramer said. “;It was hard for the umpire to see it.”;

After Woodward stole second, Noel reached base on an error by Vinnie Catricala. Kramer then hit Tyler Bortnick with a pitch and the Chanticleers scored runs on a sacrifice fly by David Anderson and an RBI single by Chance Gilmore. Bortnick was thrown out at third on Gilmore's hit and then Gilmore was thrown out stealing second to end the inning.

Hawaii threatened in the bottom of the inning, putting runners on first and second with two walks. But Wheeler battled back to strike out Macdonald swinging to keep the no-hitter intact.

Kramer pitched through the seventh inning before giving way to Harrison Kuroda in the eighth. The Chanticleers added two insurance runs as Noel drove in Woodward with a one-out RBI single. Woodward reached base on an infield hit and advanced to second on a throwing error by Greg Garcia before Noel's single up the middle. Noel advanced to second on the throw home and Anderson drove a 3-2 pitch from Kuroda with two outs up the middle for a hit to score Noel and make it 4-0.

“;Second game in a row we played defense that has cost us,”; Trapasso said. “;I don't know whether we win the game or not, but four mistakes led to four runs. We've got to play better defense.”;

Kramer, who at one point had the trainer come to the mound in the seventh, battled through pain in his Achilles' to last seven innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

“;Maybe like every third pitch there would be shooting pain that, like, goes up into my hamstring,”; Kramer said. “;I've had it for the past three weeks and I thought it was just a sprained ankle or something, but it hasn't gone away.”;

 

Hawaii opponent no-hitters

» April 7, 1971: Randy Scarberry, Tom Coffin, Mark Sogge (USC).

» Feb. 19, 1982: Derek Diaz, Horace Gray (UH-Hilo).

» March 14, 1998: *Jeff Nichols (Rice).

» March 26, 2009: Cody Wheeler (Coastal Carolina).

*seven innings

 

Coastal Carolina 4, Hawaii 0

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
C. CarolinaABRHBIHawaii ABRHBI
Woodward rf4320Garcia ss2000
Noel cf2121Wong cf4000
Bortnick 3b3000Catricala 3b3000
Anderson 1b2102Macdonald 1b4000
Gilmore lf3201Hernandez c3000
King lf1000Van Doornum lf3000
Witten dh2000Hoey dh3000
Rice ph-dh2100Roquemore rf2000
Iglesias c3100Chevalier ph1000
Frawley c0000Kossiun rf0000
Winegardner 2b4000Morford 2b3000
Motter ss4000     
Totals30494Totals28000
                                                                                                                                                           
Coastal Carolina000002020 490
Hawaii000000000002

E—Garcia; Catricala. DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—Hawaii 4; Coastal Carolina 5. S—Noel 2. HBP— Bortnick (by Kramer). SF—Anderson. SB—Woodward. CS—Gilmore. BK—Wheeler. PB—Iglesias.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Coastal CarolinaIPHRERBBSO
Wheeler (W, 5-0)9000310 
HawaiiIPHRERBBSO
Kramer (L, 1-3)752114
Kuroda132200 
Myers110000

Umpires—Jeff Patterson (Plate); Phil Benson (First); Ramon Armendariz (Third).

T—2:24. A—1,641.