SAN ANGELO – Angelo State pitcher Morgan Hill threw her first career no-hitter Friday night as ASU topped Texas Permian Basin 6-0 at Mayer Stadium.
The Rambelles (34-6, 18-4 LSC) scored their runs late as Hill faced just two batters over the minimum on the night and struck out nine Falcon batters.
Neither team did much scoring early, as Hill sat down the first 12 batters she faced in order. ASU had chances in the second and third innings, but stranded runners at third both times.
Angelo State got their second hit of the night in the fourth inning as Karina Rocha double down the left field line to lead off the inning, but the Rambelles were unable to execute again to drive her in.
Hill's bid for a perfect game was broken up in the top of the fifth inning with a error and a walk, but the Salado native shut down the threat with a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout.
The Rambelles finally broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning. Taylor Fogle got on base to start the inning by way of an error and Brooke Mangold came in to run. Mangold quickly stole second and advanced to third on yet another error. She then scored on a squeeze play that allowed Bailey Wallace to reach first.
Wallace stole second herself and then scored on a single from catcher Taegan Kirk. Kirk was the final runner to score for ASU in the inning coming all the way home on the third UTPB error of the inning before the Falcons finally recorded the third out.
ASU scored another three runs in the sixth inning as well, as Jade Strother led off with a walk. Strother did not spend a long time on base, however, as Denae Bina followed with an RBI triple to left center. Bina also came in to score on an infield single from Madison Greenwell.
Greenwell scored the final run of the inning and the game after stealing second. Wallace drove her in with a single down the right field line.
Hill continued to dominate in the circle after her offense gave her a lead, striking out another pair of batters in the sixth. She was constantly ahead in at-bats, throwing first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters she faced on the night.
Coming back out to finish her first career no-no, Hill sat down the Falcons in order one more time in the seventh inning, striking out the last batter looking for the win. She is now 17-4 on the year with an LSC-leading 1.45 ERA.
The Rambelles will take on the Falcons twice more this weekend, starting a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mayer Stadium.