February 20, 2009

Hall's No-Hitter Highlights KU's First Day at Service Academy Classic

Feb. 20, 2009

MILLINGTON, Tenn. –

Junior lefty Shaeffer Hall tossed the fifth no-hitter in Kansas baseball history Friday as the Jayhawks downed Air Force, 5-0 in their first game of the tournament at USA Stadium. Despite rallying from a late two-run deficit, KU fell in the nightcap, 5-4 to host Memphis.

Hall, a 6-foot left-handed pitcher from Lee’s Summit, Mo., pitched a complete game no-hitter, allowing no runs and no hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. He mixed three pitches well, and kept the Falcon hitters off balance. Hall walked the first hitter of the game and then retired 17 in a row before allowing another walk in the sixth.

Hall became the first Jayhawk pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter since David Hicks no-hit Northwest Missouri State on April 2, 1980. A group of five Kansas pitchers no-hit Texas Southern on Feb. 1, 2004 in the most recent no-hitter by a KU team.

The lefty’s toughest spot came in the sixth with a Jayhawks ahead 1-0. After retiring the first two hitters, Hall walked Nathan Carter and hit K.J. Randhawa. But second baseman Robby Price made a nice play on a ball hit into the hole on the right side to end the inning.

Air Force threatened again in the ninth, when Hall walked Carter to lead off the inning. However, this time he got a double play ball off the bat of Randhawa and struck out pinch hitter Ben Ausben to end the game.

The junior southpaw walked Carter three times, and retired 26 of the other 27 batters he faced in the game.

His offense got rolling late.

After the Jayhawks took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by sophomore catcher Joe Lincoln, KU tacked on three runs in seventh on Jimmy Waters’ RBI bunt single, Preston Land’s sacrifice fly and freshman Jake Marasco’s RBI base hit.

KU added another run in the eighth on an RBI double by Tony Thompson.

In the second game, KU again came up with a three run inning late, to erase a 2-0 deficit.

Freshman Jason Brunansky doubled with one out and moved to third on back-to-back walks. That set up Thompson for a two-run single, which tied the game at two. Shortstop David Narodowski scored on a wild pitch to give KU a 3-2 lead.

The Jayhawks led 4-2 going into the ninth inning, however Memphis scored three runs off closer Paul Smyth to earn a come-from-behind victory. Center fielder Drew Martinez, who had three hits in the game, ended the ninth with a line drive off the glove of Smyth that plated the winning run.

Kansas will look to bounce back Saturday in day two of the Service Academy Classic when it faces Bradley at 1 p.m. at USA Stadium. The game can be heard on kuathletics.com.