The Hope College baseball team got a no-hitter from righthander Graham O'Gorman Saturday afternoon as the Flying Dutchmen split a doubleheader with Lawrence (Wisconsin) University during their spring break trip to Florida.
Hope won the opener, 6-0, behind the gem by O'Gorman, a junior from Champaign, Illinois (Champaign Central). Lawrence came back to take the nightcap, 5-2.
O'Gorman, who entered the game with an 8.78 earned run average in his first three appearances of the season, went the distance to pitch the 11th no-hitter in school history and the first complete-game no-no since Derek Fairchild threw a no-hitter in 2009 against Albion College. The last no-hitter by the Dutchmen was a combined no-no by Sean Hoey, Matt Plaehn, Shane Hykin, Matt Blesch and Ryan Sullivan against Grace Christian University last season.
O'Gorman walked five batters and struck out four in the contest while throwing 89 pitches. The most serious threat against him came in the top of the third when Lawrence put two runners on base on walks. But O'Gorman got a line out to end the inning.
"Graham worked his tail off to put himself in position to perform at this level," head coach Stu Fritz said. "He put it all together today. He was able to keep them off balance. We had really good defense behind him. We found a way to scratch some runs. He just wanted it. I'm super happy for him."
The Dutchmen rewarded O'Gorman in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs to open the scoring. Sophomore third baseman Al Money of Midland, Michigan (Midland) was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Fifth-year senior Kainan Bayn of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East) followed with a double, advancing Money to third. Fifth-year senior designated hitter Spencer Cable of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville) drove in Money with a groundout, and Bayn scored on a Vikings error to give Hope a 2-0 lead.
Hope then broke the game open with a four-run uprising in the fifth, with all four runs coming with two outs. Junior first baseman Owen Krizan of Grand Haven, Michigan (Grand Haven) delivered an RBI single, and junior centerfielder Robbie Stuursma of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) followed with his first home run of the season, a three-run shot, to give the Dutchmen a 6-0 lead.
O'Gorman did the rest, setting down the last six batters he faced, as he improved his record on the season to 2-1.
Hope had just five hits in the opener, but took advantage of four walks, a hit batter and two Lawrence errors in posting the win. The Dutchmen also stole four bases. Senior second baseman Nolan Gardner of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) had two of the Dutchmen's five hits.
In the second game, Hope battled back from a 2-0 deficit with two runs in the top of the sixth. With two out, Bayn and Cable singled, and Bayn scored on an error on a ground ball by sophomore shortstop Logan McCoy of Midland, Michigan (Midland Dow) to cut the lead to 2-1. Then junior shortstop Devin Meeuwsen of Rockford, Michigan (Grand Rapids Christian) singled to drive in Cable and tie the score at 2-2.
But the Vikings responded with three runs on just one hit in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of two walks and an error in the process.
The Dutchmen return to action on Monday with a 10:30 a.m. contest against the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, Florida.
