A college baseball team recently came within one out of a no-hitter, and it took everyone on the field a while to realize the feat had not been completed.
North Carolina starting pitcher Aidan Haugh led the Tar Heels to a 10-0 win over Boston College on March 23. The right-hander threw a complete-game shutout and allowed just one hit, and that hit was also the final out of the game.
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Haugh had not allowed a hit through 6 2/3 innings when BC first baseman Nick Wang hit a line drive to the right side of the infield. The ball struck a runner who had reached first on a walk in the previous at-bat. That meant the runner was out, and it initially looked like the play completed Haugh’s no-hitter.
North Carolina rolls in the finale with Aidan Haugh coming an out shy of a run-rule seven-inning no-hitter.
— Bradley Smart (@fridaystarters) March 23, 2025
Here's the final play, where Nick Wang lines one off his teammate. Toomey is out, but Wang is credited with a hit since it was past the INF who had a chance (I believe). https://t.co/DpMMLUhSVs pic.twitter.com/IlrooaxNOV
The problem is the play was scored a base hit even with the runner being called out because the ball struck him. Had the ball not hit the runner, it would have gone into right field for a base hit. So, while Haugh likely would have lost the no-hitter anyway, the play resulted in some misguided celebrating.
You can see a breakdown of the play:
You've never seen a no-hitter ruined like this before pic.twitter.com/9VzQAGsTDH
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 3, 2025
That was obviously an incredible outing from Haugh regardless, but it must have been rough to think he had a no-hitter and then realize it was taken away. That doesn’t make the right-hander’s performance any less dominant, even if it will not go down in the history books.
