After Kendra Knight came within two outs of a no-hitter against Princeton on March 5, Coach Laura Watten said Knight was not “meant” to throw a no-hitter yet.
Knight must have been “meant” to do it fewer than two weeks later. Today, Knight threw a no-no against Columbia on the way to a 9-1 Terps’ victory.
The game didn’t look like it would be one to remember for Knight after the first inning.
Knight walked the first batter of the game, and an error allowed the next batter to reach base as well. After two strikeouts, a wild pitch allowed a run to score and put the Terps in a 1-0 hole. Knight would get out of the jam though, striking out the side.
After that first inning, Knight didn’t think she had a shot at the no-no.
“Honestly, no. I didn’t at all. I wasn’t really feeling that great,” Knight said. “I knew we were gonna win, but I didn’t think I was gonna throw a no-hitter.”
That first inning would be the only trouble Knight had all day. Knight delivered 14 strikeouts and walked only two total.
Had the Terps (12-9) not backed up Knight offensively, they could have ended up losing despite the no-hitter. Luckily for Knight, the Terps’ offense was on fire all day.
After scoring nine runs in the first game, a 9-1 win against Akron, the Terps duplicated the total against Columbia (1-11). Knight helped her own cause, driving in two runs with a pair of singles. Infielder Alex Schultz continued her torrid hitting pace of late, smacking a solo home run in the Terps’ four-run fourth inning.
It was Nikki Maier’s two-run homerun, though, that sealed the no-hitter. The sixth-inning blast gave the Terps an 8-run lead over the Lions, triggering the mercy rule. That gave the Terps the victory, and Knight the no-hitter.
Knight’s no-hitter is unofficially the first Maryland no-no since Amanda Bettker tossed one in the first game at Robert E. Taylor Stadium in 2002.
Knight said that she really didn’t think about the no-hitter until the game was over. Even then, Knight tried to downplay the significance of her accomplishment.
“It’s rewarding,” Knight said. “But until I can start playing games like this in ACC play, that will be more rewarding than this.”