Charlotte Pitcher Blake Gillespie Throws A No-Hitter
For just the second time in program history, a Charlotte Baseball pitcher has thrown a no-hitter as Blake Gillespie tossed a gem in a 5-0 win over James Madison on Friday (March 7).
Gillespie only allowed one runner from a walk, who was promptly thrown out trying to steal by Logan Poteet, as he faced the minimum number of batters possible to join Ronnie Honeycutt as the only pitchers in program history to throw a no-hitter.
“Honestly, nothing” Gillespie said about what was going through his mind as he headed out to pitch the ninth inning. “I try to practice having a calm mind and not really thinking too much when I pitch. Just taking it one pitch at a time and whatever happens is supposed to happen.”
He got 11 of his outs from strikeouts for Charlotte’s (5-6) seventh game with double-digit strikeouts this season. Gillespie was pounding the zone all day, throwing over 70% of his pitches for strikes while only issuing the one walk – and only finding himself in a full count twice across the nine innings.
“It was the most amount of pure joy I’ve had, probably ever,” Gillespie said about recording the final out. “It was super awesome having the support of my teammates, all of them running out to me. We’re one team so we all did this together.”
Gillespie’s no-hitter comes nearly 38 years after the first in program history from Honeycutt, who used 12 strikeouts while giving up a pair of unearned runs and six walks in a 17-2 win over UNC Asheville on April 14, 1987, for the first no-no CLT had tossed until Friday.
“Blake Gillespie, end of story,” Charlotte head coach Robert Woodard said when asked what was going through his mind after the game. “I’ve gotten to coach Division I baseball for 15 years and it’s a long list of pitchers that have been awesome in that stretch. But that’s the first complete game no-hitter that I’ve gotten to coach, be a part of, and witness. It’s so hard to do. It’s a credit to Logan Poteet behind the dish, to Cameron Hansen – our pitching coordinator, to Toby Bicknell for recruiting him and bringing him to Charlotte, to Eric McKibban for training him, to Michael Oh for coaching him all fall, to Blake’s family for being here, and obviously to our defense playing behind him. Blake’s been one of our hardest workers since the day he showed up in Charlotte. We say all the time that hard work pays off, you just don’t know when. I’ll never forget this night.”
Charlotte brought its five runs home in support of Gillespie from Caleb Estes, Carson Bayne, and Connor Maryniak. Estes got things going with a two-run single in the second while Bayne tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh with a double down the line in left. Maryniak had CLT’s only other run on the day with his first home run of the season and Charlotte’s 11th of the year. Estes had the only multi-hit game of the day with two knocks while Chandler Riley, Noah Furcht, Juan Rivera, and Thad Ector all added hits.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Gillespie sat the side down in order in the first before issuing a walk with one out in the second. He got the next batter to fly out to left before the runner tried to steal second and was promptly retired by Poteet for the Niner catcher’s eighth caught stealing of the season – which would be the last time James Madison (5-8) had a runner on base.
Charlotte got the scoring started in the bottom of the frame after getting the runner at second with Estes’s single. Bayne reached on a fielder’s choice before Rivera singled to left field to put a pair of runners on, with Bayne going first to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run. Rivera swiped second on a strikeout to move into scoring position with two gone and Estes followed with a single to right that scored both.
Gillespie took the lead and ran with it, sitting all of the next 21 batters he faced down while getting stronger as he went on with nearly more strikeouts in the final two frames than in the preceding seven combined. Maryniak gave the Niners another insurance run with a solo shot into the 49er bullpen in the sixth inning for his first home run wearing the Green and White.
Charlotte’s final runs came in the seventh on a two-run double from Bayne, extending his team lead up to 18 RBIs on the season. Riley led the inning off with an infield single. Furcht worked a two-out walk to put a pair on and Bayne kept one fair down the line in left to bring both home.
Gillespie’s pitch count was nearing the 90-pitch mark as he returned to the hill for the eighth inning but he tossed his best inning yet – striking out the side. He returned to the bump to finish things off in the ninth and did just that, bookending the inning with strikeouts sandwiched around a ground out to third for the historic victory.