Tommy Birch

tbirch@dmreg.com

Teammates mobbed Chris Rusin near the mound, threw contents of two coolers on him and celebrated the end of a long drought.

Nearly 30 years after the last no-hitter in franchise history, the Iowa Cubs were partying again.

Rusin broke a three-decade drought with his first professional no-hitter as the Iowa Cubs beat the New Orleans Zephyrs 3-0 before an announced crowd of 10,770 fans at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La., on Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm feeling pretty good," Rusin said in a telephone interview after the game. "It's never happened to me before. I don't even know what to think. I don't even think it's hit me yet."

No one was able to hit Rusin, a left-handed pitcher, who delivered the 14th no-hitter in franchise history and first since Reggie Patterson accomplished the feat on Aug. 21, 1984.

"I felt like it happened so quickly," Rusin said.

Rusin struck out three, allowed just three base runners -- two walks and one catcher's interference -- and at one point retired 17 consecutive hitters in a row.

Rusin used mostly a two-seam fastball and faced just 29 hitters (two more than the minimum) while throwing 118 pitches, including 72 for strikes.

"When the ball is moving that much … they really didn't have a chance," Iowa catcher Luis Flores said.

Rusin recorded 15 outs by groundout and six by flyout, including the final out when Iowa center fielder Matt Szczur made a diving catch on a ball hit by Josh Rodriguez.

The no-hitter was the first for Rusin since his little league days. Then he was doused with ice water from the coolers.

"I was pretty numb after the first one so if something else hit me, I probably wouldn't have felt it," Rusin said.

The 27-year-old Rusin was a fourth-round pick by the Cubs in the 2009 draft. He appeared in seven big-league games in 2012 and 13 with Chicago a season later.

Rusin, who was among the last players cut this spring, made it back to the majors last month, tossing five strong innings in an April 12 relief outing.

Shortly after, he was sent back to the minors, where he's compiled a 2-4 record with a 3.58 ERA with Iowa this season.

"I'm super happy for him," Iowa manager Marty Pevey said. "What an accomplishment."

Rusin also finished 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs to help Iowa to its third straight victory.

His most impressive work, though, came on the hill.

"For a lot of kids in that dugout, that's the one and only (no-hitter) they'll see and be involved with," Pevey said.

Rusin said he was given a ticket from the game and kept the ball from the final out.

"I felt normal, honestly," Rusin said. "I didn't do anything special warming up."

No-hitters in Iowa franchise history

June 8, 1947: Bob Kuhlman (1-0)

August 17, 1949: Elvin Stabelfeld (7-0)

July 21, 1950: Vern Fear (5-0, 7 inn.)

July 27, 1951: Leon Foulk (5-0)

May 4, 1960: Andre Bessette (5-0)

July 10, 1960: Jack Kerrigan (8-1)

July 29, 1960: Jack Kerrigan (L, 1-3)

July 31, 1974: Joe Henderson (10-0)

August 25, 1974: Homer Stinson (7-0)

June 13, 1976: Chris Knapp (3-0, 7 inn.)

September 1, 1977: Chris Knapp/Fred Howard (8-0)

May 26, 1978: John Kucek (8-0)

August 21, 1984: Reggie Patterson (2-0)

May 7, 2014: Chris Rusin (3-0)