Kirchoff No Hit Through Six While Husky Offense Outhits WSU 13-2 To Earn 8-2 Win

Sophomore RHP Calvin Kirchoff put on a masterful performance Saturday night in game two of the Boeing Apple Cup Series against the Washington State Cougars. Following a first inning ground out and walk, he retired 19 straight batters giving up zero hits through six and two thirds.  The Husky offense kept the pressure on WSU as well with consistent run scoring inning after inning, culminating in an 8-2 victory.

Bottom of 1
McKay Barney led off the bottom half of the first reaching on an error by the third baseman. He would advance to second on a Johnny Tincher ground out. A Will Simpson single to right field put runners on the corner, setting the stage for Coby Morales who singled through the left side to put the Huskies on the board.

Bottom of 2
Josh Urps drew a full count, two-out walk and advanced to second on a Barney single up the middle. Tincher stepped up next and drove a shot over second base that landed just shy of the right fielder scoring Urps to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

Bottom of 3
Morales led off the inning with a single to right field. AJ Guerrero followed and drew a full count walk. Michael Snyder was given the bunt sign next and sacrificed himself down the third base side advancing the runners. Cam Clayton came to the plate next with two in scoring position and drove a base hit that just snuck through up the middle giving the Huskies a 4-0 lead. Clayton soon found himself on third via a throwing error by the third baseman and two batters later Barney gave him a pass to the plate with a single through the right side. At the end of 3, the Huskies were up 5-0.

Top of the 4th
No runs were scored in the top of the fourth thanks to a couple great defensive plays. A one-out ball was lined to right, but shortstop Cam Clayton broke to his right and jumped to make an incredible catch.  The next batter popped a high foul ball that came down an arm's length inside the Husky dugout. Luckily that arm was first baseman Will Simpson's as he was able to stretch as far over the railing as humanly possible to make the catch! 

Bottom of 4
While manufacturing runs was the theme of the previous inning, this inning belonged to Guerrero who simply barreled one up to deep center field adding a sixth run to the board.

Bottom of 5
With one out in the fifth, Cole Miller laced a double to left center. The next batter, Urps, was hit by a full count pitch and sent to first. Two batters later Tincher walked to load the bases for Simpson who graciously accepted a walk himself to earn an RBI as Miller crossed the plate making it a 7-0 ballgame.

Bottom of 6
Guerrero walked to lead of the sixth. Two batters later Clayton doubled to the wall down the left field line. Guerrero attempted to score all the way from first, but the throw came in faster than expected and caught him at the plate.  Clayton, however, was able to advance to third on the throw home. Miller dug in next and dropped one into shallow right center scoring Clayton to give the Huskies an 8-run lead. 

Top of 7
Following a pop up to right and a strikeout, Kirchoff looked well on his way to yet another 1-2-3 inning.  "No Hitter" whispers were making their way through the stands.  A walk was handed to the third batter, but the no-no was still intact.  All of this buzz was soon silenced however, as the fourth batter of the inning finally got to Kirchoff sending a shot over the right field wall. The Cougars were now on the board looking up at an 8-2 score which is where things remained to close out the game. 

Starter Calvin Kirchoff more than earned the win giving up just 2 earned runs in 6.2 innings of work with two walks and three strike outs. His record improved to 1-1.