#MustangsWin! Koonce's No-Hitter Leads Mustangs To Series Win Over Spartans

Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director

            Conway, Ark. – Devon Koonce made history today for the Central Baptist College baseball team this afternoon as the Mustangs wrapped up their American Midwest Conference series with the Spartans of Missouri Baptist University. Koonce fired the fourth no-hitter in program history and the first since 2018 in CBC (21-20, 6-9 AMC)'s 12-2 win over MBU (17-17, 10-5 AMC).

            Koonce's no-hitter was the third solo no-hitter and the fourth no-hitter total in the Mustangs' baseball history. The most recent no-hitter was on March 2, 2018 when Jose Delmar, Jacob Clark and Brian Moreno combined to throw a no-no in a 1-0 loss @ William Woods. The other two no-hitters were by Ben Madison on February 18, 2017 in a 3-0 win against the school now known as the University of Tennessee Southern and Brian Moreno on April 15, 2016 @ Park in a 13-1 win for CBC. He allowed two runs (one earned) while also walking three and striking out three.

            CBC opened the scoring in the second when Wille Baez scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0. Steven Stewart, who became the 21^st player in program history to record 100 career hits, drove in two more later in the inning with a single to make it 3-0. Koonce's only trouble came in the third when an error and a walk resulted in MBU scoring their only runs, making it 3-2. From there, he was nearly untouchable, and the offense continued to pour it on for the Mustangs. Austin Teal would drive in his first run of the day with a single in the third to make it 4-2 and Kyle Bass followed that up with an RBI single of his own to make it 5-2. Baez would drive in a run in the fourth to make it 6-2 and the Mustangs tacked on two more in the fifth on RBI singles by Ruben Hernandez and Logan Easterling to make it 8-2. The game ended early in the seventh when Gabe Walker singled home a pair of runs to make it 10-2 before Austin Teal hit his second home run of the series and sixth of the season to bring the score final and help Koonce make history.

GAME NOTES

• CBC improves to 12-13 all-time against Missouri Baptist
• Stewart, in addition to making hits history, also broke his own record for being hit by pitches, with his 19^th today, breaking his previous record of 18 set last year
• Jay French also inched closer to second on the all-time hits list, now just one shy of Josh Buczek
• French and Hernandez both walked today, with Ruben drawing three walks, and, in doing so, both moved into the top-10 in a single season in walks

UP NEXT

            CBC steps out of AMC play on Tuesday when they head to Texas for a doubleheader against Texas A&M-Texarkana. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.