McKibben tosses abbreviated no-hitter for Alexander in five-inning victory over Federal Hocking

STEWART — Using an eight-run first inning to completely blow this one out of the water on Friday afternoon, Alexander went on the road and secured an utterly dominant 11-0 victory over Federal Hocking with the regular season winding down. The Lancers (0-18, 0-9 Tri-Valley Conference-Hocking) would be held without a hit in the five-inning loss.

Michael McKibben would be responsible for keeping Federal Hocking hitless in the abbreviated victory. The Spartans’ (8-10, 6-6 TVC-Ohio) pitchers would strike out seven and allow three walks in the complete game performance.

At the plate, it was a total team effort with Alexander racking up 13 hits to accrue the 11 runs. Eight different players would record a hit for the Spartans. Stanley Viny would guide the effort with a 3-4 day at the dish, scoring a pair of runs while driving one in as well.

Josh Hayes would bring in a pair of runs on two hits while Sam Ohms and Jared Truax also had two-hit performances. Nolan Jenkins would drive in a pair on one hit while Trent Schaad, Jordan Schulz and Noah Ray all grabbed a hit as well.

Completely taking over in the initial at-bats of the night, Alexander would end up scoring all eight of its first inning runs before ever recording two outs. The first run of the night would come home in part due to an error four batters into the game but the bats soon started scorching for the Spartans.

Following a bases-loaded walk from McKibben to bring in the second run, consecutive RBI hits from Hayes and Jenkins would suddenly make it a 5-0 game in the blink of an eye.

Just a couple batters later Alexander would see Schaad, Ohms and Viny each grab an RBI single in three consecutive at-bats as the Spartans batted through the order in the top of the first, building up an 8-0 advantage before the Lancers ever touched the bats.

After a 1-2-3 first inning from McKibben on the mound, Alexander would add on to the lead in the second with an RBI single from Hayes scoring Truax. After another perfect inning, the Spartans would tack on their final two runs of the afternoon in the top of the third by way of a bases-loaded walk drawn by Schulz and an error from the Lancers’ defense.

Federal Hocking would get one runner on base in each of the final three innings but couldn’t seem to ever capitalize, ultimately falling at home in the abbreviated no-hitter.