'Oh, we just threw a no-hitter': Vols react to special night on the mound

It’s one of those things in baseball that used to hardly ever happen. Now, it feels like it happens at least once or twice a year in the Big Leagues. Maybe not as much in the college realm – more than it should in high school.

Regardless, it’s something special and Tennessee did something truly special on Friday against the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.

The Vols combined to no-hit their opponent in a contest that witnessed five different arms work for the Orange & White. Frank Anderson’s staff allowed just four base runners on night via walks but none on base hits or even errors in the field.

Tennessee was so dominant in both phases of the game Friday night, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction to the people (media and working staff included) in the stadium when they looked up on the scoreboard late in the ballgame and saw a zero under the ‘H’ column for the visitors.

In some respects, they weren’t alone.    

“There was no convos [conversations]. There was actually some confusion after the game about it,” utility player Dalton Bargo said postgame. “Oh, we just threw a no-hitter.”

According to baseball superstitious, you don’t talk about a no-hitter when one is in progress. You just don’t. A lot of times, players will give the pitcher the ‘silent treatment’ when one is in progress. Obviously, Friday was a little bit different because Tennessee combined to throw a five-man no-hitter.  

But it just felt like the majority of Tennessee’s roster and staff had no clue what was happening. I guess that’s a credit to them for being as locked into the ballgame as they were, even with the score being as lopsided as it was.

“I didn’t realize what was going on. The guys got all excited there at the end,” coach Tony Vitello laughed afterwards. “So, [I] need to hire Don Zimmer, or somebody, to be the bench coach. I guess Gavin (Kilen) was almost had the cycle (in Houston). I didn’t know that one either. But yeah, it’s a reflection of five guys, if I got that right, the burger. It might be an NIL deal with the burger company there. Five guys got out there and threw strikes and did what Coach A (Frank Anderson) is looking for them to do.”

Vitello had jokes and was in a good mood following Tennessee’s 12-0 shutout, no-hit win over St. Bonaventure. He should be – his team was awesome and it started from the get-go with Liam Doyle’s start.

The Southpaw is arguably the best pitcher in the country right now. He looked like it on Friday as he retired 17-straight, bookended by a pair of walks to begin and end his outing. Doyle came up one strikeout shy (13) of a career-high across 5.2 innings with 104 total pitches and 72 strikes. He was dealing, but he too didn’t much have a clue what was going on.

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. Didn’t really register. I knew I was cruising,” Doyle reflected. “I was just trying to get the next guy out. That’s always the goal – just the the next strike.”

From there, four bullpen arms took over and carried it to the finish line.

Tanner Franklin finished the sixth inning and needed only eight pitches to collect the final out and preserve Doyle’s line. Brandon Arvidson tossed a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts over 19 pitches. Brayden May, who was making his first-career appearance, pitched a scoreless eighth on 21 pitches. Michael Sharman pitched the clean ninth inning on 10 pitches.

“When he came in, it’s easy to tell that the guys are cheering for him and excited to see him out there,” Vitello said of May in his debut. “Our guys are ready to play good defense behind him. And he kind of calmed the nerves and [to] see him throw well was refreshing, too. These guys all deserve to get rewarded.”

Talk about a good day. You make your first-career appearance and it’s a part of a combined no-hitter. The fourth of such in program history and the ninth total for the Vols. Man, that’s something he can always pull out of his back pocket for the rest of his life.

“I had no idea until the eighth inning,” Cannon Peebles said, who caught the first seven innings of the game. “I wasn’t even catching at that point, so I’m glad that I had no idea. We were just out there playing ball, but it was cool to see.”

Tennessee pitched a no-hitter for the ninth time in program history on Friday and the first since the 2002 season. The most recent no-no was the fourth combined no-hitter for the Vols in program history.

Not a bad day at the ballpark. It’s even greater when you realize after the final out call that your team just tossed a no-no. What ya say?

Tennessee No-Hitters in List Form

• Combined (Liam Doyle/Tanner Franklin/Brandon Arvidson/Brayden May/Michael Sharman) on March 7, 2025 (UT 12, St. Bonaventure 0)
• Jeffery Terrell on Feb. 15, 2002 (UT 5, Bowling Green 0)
• Combined (Kurt Scott/Brad Love/Logan Brummitt/Marlyn Tisdale/Brandon Crowe) on Feb 21, 2000 (UT 8, College of Charleston 0)
• Bob Dillon on March 24, 1990 (UT 11, Kentucky 0)
• Combined (David Curl/Jeff Owen/Jeff Glover/Steve Searcy/Rich DeLucia) on Feb. 22, 1984 (UT13, Tusculum 0)
• Jim Gaylor on April 20, 1976 (UT 4, Tenn. Tech 0)
• Rick Honeycutt on March 19, 1976 (UT 1, Georgia 0)
• Joe O’Brien on March 30, 1973 (UT 3, Georgia 0)
• Combined (Rick Honeycutt/Jim Gaylor) on March 16, 1976 (UT8, Slippery Rock 0)