Fresno pitcher no-hits Wahine

Hawaii’s bats passed their pregame inspection yesterday. But Fresno State’s Michelle Moses kept them under wraps once the Western Athletic Conference showdown started.

Moses fired a no-hitter and the Bulldogs opened a three-game series with the No. 20/25 Rainbow Wahine with a 5-0 win yesterday at Bulldog Diamond in Fresno, Calif.

Moses finished with 11 strikeouts and walked two in recording the first no-hitter thrown against UH since Tennessee’s Monica Abbott shut down the Wahine in the opener of the NCAA Super Regional in 2007.

"It’s unreal that this game happened," Moses said on the Fresno State website. "It feels amazing and it’s such an accomplishment not only for me but for this team. I just took one pitch at a time and didn’t think about the no-hitter."

The Rainbow Wahine (25-10, 3-1 WAC) will try to bounce back when the series concludes today with a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m.

Moses set the tone by striking out the side in the top of the first and helped her cause with a single in Fresno State’s three-run rally in the bottom of the inning.

After singles by Brooke Ortiz and Moses, Courtney Moore hit a grounder to third and Melissa Gonzalez’s attempted toss to shortstop Jessica Iwata covering the third was wild, allowing Ortiz to score the game’s first run. Caitlin Stiglich and Andrea Ortega followed with RBI singles to right off of UH starter Stephanie Ricketts.

The Bulldogs (20-8, 4-0 WAC) added another run in the fourth on Haley Gilleland’s RBI single. Two illegal pitches called against UH reliever Jenna Rodriguez in the fifth contributed to Fresno State’s final run.

Moses (7-6) then closed out the no-hitter by retiring seven of UH’s last eight hitters, adding two more strikeouts in the seventh.

Ricketts (15-8) struck out five and gave up nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Rodriguez, who started in right field, made her third pitching appearance of the season and had a strikeout and a walk in the final 12/3 innings.