Liam Doyle, Tennessee Bullpen Combine For No-Hitter Against St. Bonaventure
Image credit: Tennessee LHP Liam Doyle (Photo by Danny Parker/Four Seam Images)
On March 23, 2024, Liam Doyle took the mound at Tennessee’s Lindsey Nelson Stadium–then as a member of Ole Miss–and struck out 10 hitters over six innings, stifling the eventual College World Series champions.
Tennessee had a stacked lineup last season, including Angels’ first-rounder Christian Moore. As Vols head coach Tony Vitello recounted, Moore returned to the dugout with two words of advice for his teammates after facing Doyle.
“Good luck.”
A few weeks shy of a year later, Doyle was back on the mound at Rocky Top, dominating once more. Only this time around, after a second spin through the transfer portal, Doyle was in home orange and breathing fire for the home crowd in Knoxville.
Doyle, who started his college career at Coastal Carolina, struck out 13 St. Bonaventure batters for the first 5.2 innings of a no-hitter shared with Tanner Franklin, Brandon Arvidson, Brayden May and Michael Sharman.
The no-no was Tennessee’s first since 2002, when Jeffery Terrell held down Bowling Green without any help from his friends in the pen.
The Bonnies’ threats against Doyle were few and far between. The lefty issued walks to open and close the game, sandwiched around 17 straight outs. The hardest-hit ball against Doyle came from Morgan Little, who drove one to the track in right-center field, where it was hauled in by right fielder Reese Chapman.
Doyle’s fastball has drawn raves this season—Tennessee catcher Cannon Peebles called it “the best in college baseball”—and the pitch was in full splendor all night long. It sat in the mid 90s, peaked at 98 and drew 23 swings and misses. The outing upped Doyle’s gaudy totals to 47 strikeouts against five walks over 20.1 innings.
If you’re doing the math, you know those numbers mean 47 of the 61 outs Doyle has recorded this year have come on strikes.
The next time Doyle takes the hill, Tennessee will be facing Florida for the start of their Southeastern Conference slate. Though the Gators will likely pose a far stiffer challenge than St. Bonaventure did on Friday night, they’d be wise to heed Moore’s advice from last march.
“Good luck.”
