­­­­­The Lions (32-18, 15-12 SLC) came out on top of Texas A&M Corpus-Christi Islanders (29-21, 14-13 SLC), with a final score of 11-2. The game took place on Thursday, April 21. Senior right-hander Brandon Efferson pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball, and combined with fellow senior right-hander Stefan Lopez to allow only one hit.

The one-hitter was the­ first in 19 years for Lion’s baseball, according to lionsports.net. Senior outfielder Cass Hargis also tied the record for most hits in a career with 276, previously held by former teammate Ty Summerlin.

The Lions opened the scoring in the bottom of the second, when a throwing error by the Islanders allowed senior outfielder Jeff Harkensee to score. The Lions piled on five more in the third, and two more in the fourth, while Efferson kept the Islander offense at bay. The Lions finished their scoring in the eighth inning with one run on three hits.

Efferson finally gave up a hit in the seventh inning when Islander outfielder Matthew Holland slammed a double against the left-center field wall.

“I had it in the back of my mind the whole time,” said Efferson, on his seven hitless innings. “I don’t really try to think about it, but the dude hit a great pitch and he deserved it because he hit the hell out of it.”

Senior designated hitter Joe Sparacino went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run that towered over the right field wall.

Hargis went 2-for-4 with the record tying hit, a single into center field, coming in the seventh inning.

“It feels good. I knew coming into this year I’d have a chance to be close and break it, and right now we can get that out of the way and try to focus on winning the championship,” said Hargis.

Hargis pointed out the importance of performing the feat in Hammond.

“I wanted to do it at home. I didn’t want to do it on the road,” said Hargis. “Not trying to be selfish, but it is special to do it at home.”

Lions Head Coach Jay Artigues spoke very highly of Hargis after the game.

“I tell you what, he’s been a pleasure to coach for four years,” said Artigues. “He’s a kid who comes in here and works his tail off. He’s a blue-collar type kid and he’s the kind of guy I hope we can find every year in this program.”