No. 1 Gaston College records no-hitter in 13-0 opening round Region 10 tournament victory

Top-ranked Gaston College got a no-hitter from Evan Vandenbosch and Andrew Muraco ended the contest after five innings with a grand slam for a 13-0 victory in the Rhinos' opening game of the Region 10 baseball tournament at Lexington County, S.C., Stadium on Friday.

Vandenbosch needed 88 pitches in his five-inning effort with four walks for the fourth no-hitter in program history.

"Vandy threw a good game," said Gaston College coach Shohn Doty, whose team improved to 50-6 this season. "I thought we were real businesslike and we're excited about playing tomorrow morning."

The Rhinos have a quick turnaround as they open Saturday's tournament action with a 10 a.m. game against Spartanburg Methodist (39-14). The Pioneers won the opener of a four-game series in Gastonia in March before Gaston College won the final three games of the series.

"I'm not sure baseball is supposed to be played at 10 a.m.," Doty said. "But that's part of tournament baseball. The key will be bringing the energy and enthusiasm that we need to have."

Vandenbosch joins Gus Hughes (2022), Nolan Straniero, Kyle McKernan and Sawyer Sutton (2023) and McKernan and Dusty Sanderlin (2023) with no-hitters in school history.

In Friday's win, the Rhinos supported Vandenbosch with two runs in the first inning, four in the second, three in the third and six in the fifth.

Freddie Oliver (2 hits, 3 RBIs), Caleb Estes (2 hits, double, 1 RBI), Trent Murchison (2 hits), Muraco (grand-slam home run) and Seth Christmas (1 hit, 2 RBIs) led Gaston College's 10-hit offense.

"It was important for us to get off to a good start - and we did that," Doty said. "We didn't have to use a lot of pitching today, which is always a big thing in a tournament."

Here is the full Region 10 tournament schedule:

(Friday, May 3)
Game 1 - USC Lancaster vs. USC Sumter - USC Lancaster 1-0
Game 2 - Spartanburg Methodist vs. USC Union - Spartanburg Methodist 8-0
Game 3 - Gaston College vs. USC Salkehatchie - Gaston 13-0 in 5
Game 4 - Florence-Darlington-Tech vs. USC Lancaster, 7:30 p.m.

(Saturday, May 4)
Game 5 - Spartanburg Methodist vs. Gaston College, 10 a.m.
Game 6 - USC Union vs. USC Salkehatchie, 1 p.m.
Game 7 - USC Sumter vs. Game 5 loser, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 4 loser vs. Game 6 winner, 7:30 p.m.

(Sunday, May 5)
Game 9 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 10 a.m.
Game 10 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 4:30 p.m.

(Monday, May 6)
Game 12 - Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 13 (if necessary) - If Game 11 winner wins Game 12, approximately 2 p.m.