Missouri senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas threw her 11th career no-hitter in front of ESPN’s cameras and an announced crowd of 1,540, and No. 11 Missouri (31-9, 13-7 Souteastern Conference) split a late-night doubleheader with No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday in Columbia, winning the first game 2-0 and losing the second game 10-1.
“That’s as good as I can remember because, you know, Tennessee lights it up offensively, and it was in front of a nice crowd and it was an important game,” Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine said of Thomas’ performance. “I thought it was just extraordinary, I was so proud of the way that she pitched.”
Thomas struck out seven and walked just three, all while facing the SEC’s top offense in Tennessee (43-8, 16-5 SEC). Vols’ third baseman Raven Chavanne, who entered the game with a conference-leading .474 average, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout against the two-time All-American.
“I’ll remember this night for a while,” Thomas said. “It’s a great point in my career.”
Thomas said she was aware that she hadn’t given up a hit. She said she was trying to get ahead in the count and pitch within her ability.
“I just kept seeing zeros up there, so that’s all that matters,” Thomas said.
Missouri got on the board in the first game with two strong base-running performances. In the third, junior Brianna Corwin stole second to get herself into scoring position and then scored on freshman left fielder Sarah Moore’s single to left. In the fifth, senior catcher Jenna Marston went first to third on a single, scoring a batter later to give Missouri a 2-0 lead.
“When we play like that, we can beat anybody in the country, and I think we proved that,” sophomore shortstop Corrin Genovese said.
Game two was a different story. Senior pitcher Nicole Hudson started the game, giving up five earned runs on nine hits over four innings.
Hudson has pitched game two of each of the last three SEC series for Missouri. The Tigers have lost all three games.
“Unfortunately, that game kind of served as the sacrificial lamb,” Earleywine said.
Game two was not scheduled until after the third inning of game one. The teams were supposed to play a game Friday night, but it was rained out.
The plan was to only play two games, but the conference stepped in and ordered a third game, presumably because Tennessee still stands a chance to win the regular season title.
“I was willing to do whatever the SEC wanted to mandate,” Earleywine said. “It’s their league, so we’ll play any time, any place.”
Missouri finishes its regular season Sunday afternoon in Columbia with another game against Tennessee at noon.
Thomas said her arm feels better than she did a few weeks ago, but neither she nor Earleywine would give a definitive answer on who would start the game. The team will hold a senior day ceremony following the game.
