In a game that perfectly captures why baseball is such an unpredictable sport, Angelo State University pulled off one of the most remarkable wins you'll ever see—without recording a single hit.
Playing in the Lone Star Conference Championship tournament on Thursday, May 7, the No. 2-seeded Rams defeated fellow No. 2 seed St. Mary's 3-2 at Irwin Field in Tyler, Texas. How? Through a combination of patience at the plate and capitalizing on opponent mistakes.
St. Mary's pitchers held Angelo State hitless for the entire game, but the Rattlers' defense committed five costly errors that ultimately handed the Rams the victory. It's a baseball rarity that had even the winning coach shaking his head.
"Baseball is such a funny game. It's why a lot of people love it. I love it," Angelo State coach Kevin Brooks said after the game. "You can have a game like that, and who knows, tomorrow it may be 20 to 19. So we know we've got to do a lot of things better."
The Rams wasted no time taking advantage of St. Mary's miscues. In the first inning, Blake Wilhoite scored on a throwing error from the catcher to give Angelo State a 1-0 lead. Moments later, Gamaliel Jones came around to score on a throwing error from the pitcher on a pick-off attempt, making it 2-0.
St. Mary's fought back with solo home runs from Garrett Brooks and Ethan Hughes, tying the game 2-2 heading into the ninth inning. But the Rattlers' defense couldn't hold.
In the bottom of the final frame, Jones reached base on St. Mary's fifth error of the game, then stole second. After advancing to third on a groundout, he scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly from Payton Bush, securing the walk-off 3-2 victory.
Coach Brooks joked about the strange nature of the win, recalling a previous tournament trip where his team failed to score at all. "Last time we were on the road for the conference tournament, we didn't score one," he said. "So I hope this is not a precedent that we're not going to get a hit the whole time we're here."
The Rams were scheduled to face the University of Texas-Tyler next, with a spot in the Lone Star Conference finals on the line. But regardless of what happened next, this hitless win will go down as one of the strangest—and most memorable—in college baseball history.