Warrior pitcher Andrew Graham made history Saturday by throwing the first no-hitter in 48 years of California State University, Stanislaus baseball.
The landmark game for Graham came in the 3-0 win against California State University, Dominguez Hills.
After an 8-4 Warrior win in the first game of the doubleheader, Graham took the mound for the historic second game.
“I wasn’t really thinking about finishing the no-hitter,” Graham said.
“I was just focused on going out there every inning and giving us a chance to win a ballgame.”
Head Coach Kenneth Leonesio praised Graham’s dominant performance.
“He had all his pitches working that day,” Leonesio said.
“He was able to keep them off balance because he was able to throw any pitch in any count.”
The historic no-hit performance was enough for Graham to earn Pitcher of the Week from both the Rawlings/California Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) for the week of March 11-17.
The NCBWA honors also make Graham eligible for National Pitcher of the Week, to be announced later this week.
Along with Graham’s pitching, defense played a key role in the no-hitter. Senior left fielder Ross Gonsalves made a catch in the fifth inning to keep the no-no intact.
“Once Ross made the diving play in left field and then we put up two more runs in the sixth inning, I knew the win was mine for the taking, and the no-hitter was just icing on the cake,” Graham said.
Graham’s offense also backed him throughout the course of the game.
Junior right fielder Colt McLaughlin was 1-1 with 2 RBIs and a walk.  Redshirt freshman DH Klayton Miller was 1-3 with 2 runs.
Graham described his mental state during the game, explaining how he was able to remain focused.
“I was locked in on every pitch,” Graham said.
“I was throwing all five of my pitches for strikes, and when all your stuff is working for you it really just feels easy.”
Usually a relief pitcher, Graham has recently had the opportunity to start due to teammates’ injuries.  He came into the game with an 8.16 ERA and  .431 BAA.
Graham’s only baserunners allowed were a walk in the first inning, a hit-batsman in the fourth and two more walks occurring in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
“When the last pitch of the game was a slow chopper right back to me I knew I had it, and it’s all pretty much a blur from there,” Graham said.
“I figured if I just kept throwing my game for the last three outs the baseball gods would give me the no-hitter.”