Slammers' Andrew Moss Hurls First No-Hitter In Team History

Andrew Moss (3-3) delivered the performance of the year as he tossed a no-hitter in the Slammers’ 10-1 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers Wednesday night.

It was the 15th no-hitter in Frontier League history and the ninth that was tossed in nine innings.

The no-hitter was the first in the league since 2009 when Preston Vancil threw one against Traverse City.

Moss’ final line was nine innings, no hits, one run (earned), six walks, and eight strikeouts.

As with most no-hitters, there was some spectacular defense along the way. In the first inning, Jodam Rivera was robbed of a base hit by Bobby Leeper's diving catch in center field.

Then in the sixth inning Chris Luick hit a line drive that was caught by a leaping Brad Netzel.

Moss received plenty of run support from his teammates. Erik Lis got the offense rolling with a home run in the second. One out later Trey Manz smacked a double and he came around to score on David Fox's home run to give the Slammers a 3-0 lead.

The Slammers (34-26) got another run in the third. Netzel doubled and with one away Lis singled and Netzel went to third. Then Manz singled in Netzel to extend the advantage to 4-0.

Joliet tacked on four more in the fourth. Sean Estand singled and Josh Flores drew a walk. After Netzel was hit by a pitch, Hector Pellot and Lis hit back-to-back doubles to make it 8-0 Slammers.

The Crushers (28-32) actually scored a run in the seventh inning as Moss walked two batters and hit a man to load the bases with one out. Jason Taylor hit a deep fly ball to left that Fox caught on the warning track for a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 8-1.

Leeper homered in the eighth and Kyle Maunus homered in the ninth as the Slammers hit a season-high four home runs on the night.

Moss’ ninth inning started out adventurously as Rivera hit a deep fly ball to right that Flores caught at the wall. Moss struck out Andrew Davis but he walked Kellen Kulbacki and Taylor. Evan Sharpley became the final victim as he struck out swinging to end the game.

Moss threw 136 pitches to earn his no-hitter.

With the victory the Slammers have once again matched their season-high of eight games over .500. They’ll look to clinch the series Thursday night as Tommy Mendoza (2-1, 4.63 ERA) takes the mound.