University of Washington
Santa Clara
Lincecum, Hagadone No-Hit Broncos In 9-0 Win
March 12, 2006 | Baseball
March 12, 2006
SEATTLE - University of Washington pitchers Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone combined for the UW's first no-hitter in 28 years Sunday as the Huskies beat Santa Clara, 9-0, at Husky Ballpark to complete a series sweep.
Lincecum (4-1) threw six innings and Hagadone retired all nine batters he faced over the final three to wrap up the no-hitter, the first on record by the UW since Rick Anderson held Oregon State hitless in a 10-inning, 0-0 win on April 14, 1978. (NOTE: as new information as come to light, this part of the story has been updated. As of now, Anderson's no-hitter is the most recent on record.)
"Tim's special," said UW head coach Ken Knutson. "He really had it going. If you can believe it, he got a blister on his finger in the third inning, so he couldn't throw his fastball very much. He got on a roll and did his thing. Then Hagadone came in and was just outstanding.
"I don't know if I've been more nervous my whole career," Knutson said. "It was awesome."
Lincecum, from Renton's Liberty High, was replaced by Hagadone, a sophomore lefty from Sumner, to begin the seventh inning, having thrown 119 pitches. Lincecum walked seven and struck out 11. Hagadone set down all nine Broncos he faced, striking out four, including the last two batters in the ninth.
"I was struggling with my fastball because I had a blister on my finger," Lincecum said afterward, "so I just went to my other pitches and they worked really well. I wasn't thinking about it until I came out and then I thought, `Hagadone's going to do it.'"
"I was just trying to concentrate on throwing strikes," Hagadone said. "I was able to focus. I was thinking about it though."
Husky third baseman Matt Stevens hit two home runs for the second straight game, finishing the game 3-for-4 with five runs batted in.
In a matchup of former high-school rivals, Issaquah High grad Matt Wickswat (3-1) suffered the loss for the Broncos (10-10). The red-shirt freshman lefty, who had surrendered only five earned runs in 23 and two-thirds innings coming into the game, allowed seven runs on nine hits over six innings.
Washington (15-5) opened up the bottom of the second with a flurry. After Curt Rindal doubled and Zach Clem singled to lead off the inning, freshman right fielder Kyle Conley doubled to left to plate the UW's first run. Stevens followed with his his third home run of the weekend, belting a pitch the opposite way to right-center field.
After Stevens' three-run homer, Danny Cox walked, stole second and scored thanks to a pair of groundouts.
In the meantime, Lincecum toyed with trouble. In the second, he walked the first two Broncos batters before striking out the next three. In the third, he walked three to load the bases with one out, but got a strikeout and a flyout to get off the hook.
In the fifth, a solo homer to right from Rindal increased the Huskies' lead to 6-0. In the sixth, Conley walked and eventually scored on a Nick Burnham groundout to make it 7-0.
In the bottom of the eighth, after a double from pinch hitter Cory Rickard, Stevens blasted a long homer to left-center fielder, his eighth of the season.
The Huskies now head into final exams week before resuming the baseball season next Saturday through Monday against Cal Poly. Game time Saturday is 3:00 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. game Sunday and a noon start on Monday. Live audio and stats for all of those games will be available at gohuskies.com. The UW has also added a game against Puget Sound to the schedule, Wednesday, March 22 at 6:00 p.m.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Game Washington 9, Santa Clara 0 Santa Clara 000 000 000 -- 0 0 0 Washington 050 011 02x -- 9 11 0 Matt Wickswat, Jeff Lombard (7) and Carl Bacon. Tim Lincecum, Nick Hagadone (7) and Matt Lane. W - Lincecum (4-1). L - Wickswat (3-1). Sv - Hagadone (3). 2B - UW, Curt Rindal, Kyle Conley, Matt Hague, Cory Rickard. HR - UW, Matt Stevens 2 (8), Rindal (4). T - 2:28. A - 541.
