Arizona junior Alyssa Denham celebrated her 21st birthday in memorable fashion today, pitching a no-hitter against Oregon State in a 4-0 win for the 11th-ranked Wildcats at Corvallis, Ore.
The transfer from Louisiana-Lafayette in her second full season with Mike Candrea’s team faced 23 batters in her seven innings of work, striking out eight and walking three. Denham, whose pitch count was 103, did not allow a runner past second base.
NO-NO
@DenhamAlyssa pic.twitter.com/oPbQCRZUD8
— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) March 24, 2019
The no-hitter is the 92nd in program history and the first since ace Taylor McQuillin had a no-hitter on Feb. 11, 2018, against New Mexico.
Denham’s best performance before today was a two-hit shutout against No. 4 Alabama when she was a freshman at Lousiana-Lafayette.
Got a no-hitter, @DenhamAlyssa?
Yeah, you already know your @ArizonaSoftball teammates are coming at you with the water cooler pic.twitter.com/Q501XUsetm
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 24, 2019
The Wildcats achieved their second consecutive sweep — last week sweeping Oregon at Hillenbrand Stadium — and are 6-0 in the Pac-12 and 24-7 overall. They host a series against Arizona State (24-8, 4-1) next weekend.
Jessie Harper hit her fourth home run of the series against Oregon State and Malia Martinez added another homer. Harper has 17 home runs and 39 RBIs this season.
Reyna Carranco, who leads the Wildcats with a .462 batting average, went 2 for 4.