Junior pitcher Adam Ottavino has recently added a new line to an already impressive stat sheet: a no-hitter.
The hurler from Brooklyn put goose eggs on the scoreboard Friday against Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival James Madison University. Ottavino walked three and struck out a career-high 14. It was his first no-hit performance as a Husky, further cementing the righthander as one of Northeastern’s all-time greats. His performance earned him his second The Northeastern News Player of the Week honor in three weeks.
“I just felt like I had all my pitches working,” Ottavino said. “I really got ahead of the batters, there wasn’t anything they could do to really slow me down. Even if I fell behind in the count, I would throw a new pitch and keep them off balance all day. They are a good hitting team and if they knew what was coming, they would have hit it hard.”
Ottavino kept the Dukes off balance by mixing his fastball, curveball and change-up, in addition to collecting double-digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season. Ottavino was in a sticky situation only once during the game, in the top of the sixth inning. Freshman centerfielder Matt Townsend of JMU reached first on an error by NU senior shortstop Arman Sidhu. Townsend then advanced to third on an errant pick-off attempt by Ottavino, only to be stranded when the Huskies’ ace struckout the next batter.
“There were two outs and I didn’t have to get a strikeout to end the inning, but I decided to turn it up a notch,” Ottavino said. “I try to go to a different level and reach back for a little more on my fastball. I also made sure not to bounce any pitch in front of the catcher or throw a wild pitch, I just wanted to keep my focus.”
Perhaps focus was the most important factor for Ottavino, who has flirted with no-hitters in the past. However, this outing was different.
“I just was trying to treat the game like it was a one-hitter, I was treating it like it was a regular game and playing one pitch at a time,” Ottavino said.
The Huskies are sure to put more focus on their conference games, which are against conference leader Old Dominion. Performances like Ottavino’s do more than earn a win, they boost confidence, Ottavino said.
“I think it makes the team very confident, like we can stack up against everyone,” he said. “After the no-hit game we were just focusing on the next one; we’re just trying to win ball games and once the first one is over we’re trying to win the next day.”
Ottavino was also named CAA Pitcher of the Week, Rosenblatt Report’s National Pitcher of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pro-Line Cap National Pitcher of the Week.
– Compiled by staff writer Matt Foster.
