MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Freshman pitcher Chandler Alderman sure knows how to set the bar high for himself.
The Middle Tennessee State University left-hander from North Boone High School needed just two career starts on the mound to throw his first collegiate no-hitter.
The Poplar Grove, Ill., native struck out 11 batters on his way to a 10-0 eight-inning win over Liberty (9-13, 1-1) on Saturday.
With the win, MTSU improved to 10-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Alderman walked three on his way to throwing the fourth no-hitter in MTSU history and the first in 20 years. He was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for his efforts.
The 6-foot-5 left-hander recorded the most strikeouts and the most innings pitched by a Blue Raider this season. He became the second MTSU freshman to throw a no-hitter and the third pitcher to throw a solo no-hitter in program history.
Alderman didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth inning when he issued a two-out walk. The no-hitter was the first since 2004 against IPFW, which was a combined no-hitter and the first solo no-hitter since Brad Howard, who was also a freshman, on March 16, 1997.
Having already thrown 111 pitches with two outs in the seventh inning, Alderman threw a fastball past Liberty’s Brian McClellin for his 11th strikeout of the contest.
“(The no-hitter) was really special and very-much needed, and for a young guy to do it on top of everything else,” MTSU head coach Jerry Meyers was quoted on the MTSU website. “We played good defense behind him. He was outstanding. I’m so proud and happy for him. Once he got to around the 100-pitch mark, we had a good lead and the bullpen going. We were just kind of down there counting outs. We had nine outs left, then six, and so on. That’s how you work it in your mind. Something entered my mind late that I didn’t want to take this opportunity away from a guy that may never get it again.”
Alderman was happy to finish what he started.
“I was ecstatic (when the no-hitter was finalized),” Alderman was quoted on the website.” Everyone was jumping around and all of a sudden I saw a big water jug getting dumped over on me. It was an out of body experience. I first realized what was going on in the seventh inning. I was going back out there (even if the game went into the ninth inning. It’s insane to be one of those guys (to throw a no-hitter). It was great.”
• KING HONORED: Marquette University’s Jordan King (Hononegah) has been named to the College Sports Communicators 2023-24 Academic All-District team. Teammate Frannie Hottinger was also honored.
King, a fifth-year senior who is pursuing her Master’s in School Counseling, has a 3.97 GPA in graduate school after having a 3.50 GPA as an undergraduate at Marquette. King earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors after scoring in double-figures in 24-of-32 games this season.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore both academically and athletically and have competed in 90 percent of the institution’s games played or started at least 66 percent of the contests. They must have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA. Graduate students must have a minimum of a 3.50 for both their graduate program GPA and their undergraduate GPA.
Most Popular
Comments / 0