In his first start of the season, junior left-handed pitcher Jackson Brockett delivered a complete game no-hitter against Kansas State on Wednesday night in an 8-0 win at Haymarket Park.
It was the first time since 1954 that a Nebraska pitcher threw a nine-inning individual no-no.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling,” Brockett said. “Most pitchers dream of this… Throwing a no-hitter doesn’t come around often.”
Brockett was not a part of the Huskers’ starting rotation this season and had only thrown 5.1 innings the entire year before going the distance Wednesday. Head coach Will Bolt credits Brockett’s determination.
“It speaks to his character,” Bolt said. “He’s faced a lot of adversity this year… He hasn’t traveled with us a couple of times but he’s kept his head up and worked.”
Brockett hadn’t thrown since April 9 against Kansas when he gave up three hits and two earned runs in just one inning. Brockett did not make the travel squad to play Rutgers April 12-14.
“The past couple weeks have been hard, I’ll admit it, but my guys have never stopped believing in me,” Brockett said.
Brockett said that weekend away from baseball helped him take a step back and reset. Little did he know, his next outing would be a historic no-hitter.
“The plan was to open him and see how far he could go, and apparently it was to throw a no-hitter,” Bolt said.
It was the curveball that the Omaha native relied on to propel his 107-pitch, 71-strike performance. Bolt said Brockett did away with his slider and kept his fastball velocity up the entire night, impressive for a guy that usually only throws 40 pitches per game.
“It’s why baseball is the craziest game there is, you never know what you’re going to get.” Bolt said. “That’s the best pitching performance I’ve ever seen in person.”
