Sam Tinkham
Grinnell College senior Sam Tinkham tossed the second no-hitter in school history on Thursday as the Pioneers beat Monmouth 1-0 in their Midwest Conference opener.
The Newington, Connecticut, native struck out 12 batters to improve his season record to 3-0.
“It was a pretty windy and raw day with the wind was blowing straight in so we assumed it would be low scoring”, said Tinkham. ” I did not realize I had a no-hitter going until the sixth or seventh inning. I was just trying to keep throwing up zeroes on the board.”
Nearly every no-hitter is saved by a defensive gem and Tinkham said the Pioneers had two.
“Anthony Mack made a sliding catch in the outfield to preserve it and then Niko Takayeso our shortstop made a great web gem type play up the middle on a ground ball.”
It was Tinkham’s first no-hitter at any level and the Pioneers also won the second game of the doubleheader to improve to 14-4 on the season.
Story by Chris Varney at KGRN