Jeff Metcalfe

azcentral sports

Hingst gem comes in his first start of season

Arizona State sophomore right-hander Ryan Hingst no-hit Utah on Friday night, the 10th no-hitter in school history and second since 2013.

Hingst struck out nine and walked three in a 5-0 win before a season high 3,463 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium as ASU broke a five-game losing streak and won its first Pac-12 game.

The 6-4 Hingst (3-0) threw a seven-inning no-hitter for Franklin High School in El Paso, but this was his first over nine. "I'm on cloud nine right now," he said. "I don't even know how to put it into words. It'll probably hit me later on tonight when I'm about to go to bed."

BOX SCORE:ASU 5, Utah 0

Hingst was making his first start of the season after eight relief appearances. He made four starts in 2015. " You really try not to change too much with your mindset," he said. "It's really the same as coming out of the pen, you just want to get hitters out."

In the fifth inning, Hingst had a 14-pitch duel against Utah's Max Schuman that ended in a walk. Then in the sixth, he walked two of the first three batters before striking out Kellen Marruffo and getting a fly ball out. He retired the last 11 batters including Dallas Carroll on a 3-2 fly to center.

"In the sixth inning, I noticed everybody was just ignoring me (in the dugout)," Hingst said. "Higgy (pitching coach Brandon Higelin) is usually right next to between innings and I noticed he wasn't next to me. That made me look at the scoreboard, and that's when it really kind of hit me."

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ASU coach Tracy Smith joked that he would have dismissed anyone who broke baseball tradition by talking to a pitcher with a no-hitter in the making. "He pretty much did that with one pitch (fastball)," Smith said. "If he'd given up a hit in the seventh or eighth, I was probably going to take him out. But as long as he had the no-no going, it was going to be his baseball game."

Hingst hrew 121 pitches in his gem, a total that surprised him afterwards. His no-hitter comes three season after Ryan Kellogg no-hit Oregon State in Corvallis on March 23, 2013. Before Kellogg, the most recent ASU no-hitter was in 1993. Eddie Bane threw ASU's only perfect game in 1973 in addition to the now nine no-hitters. Bane and Ken Hansen in 1970 also threw their no-hitters at Phoenix Muni.

After being mobbed on the mound and his No. 33 jersey pulled off, Hingst called his parents, who already knew what happened by watching online. "They said they were on pins and needles the whole last three innings," he said. "My dad was really proud and my mom started crying. She's an emotional person."

RELATED: ASU baseball drops series opener to Utah

Center fielder Andrew Shaps made a running catch in the eighth inning to help preserve the no-hitter.

ASU (14-8, 1-4) led 2-0 through five innings then added three runs in the sixth, helping to keep Hingst in the game to try for the no-hitter.

Utah falls to 7-13, 3-2. The series deciding game is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

ASU no-hitters