COLUMBIA, Mo. – After throwing 7.0 innings of no-hit, shutout baseball in Mizzou’s first no-hitter since 2005, junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.) is the SEC Pitcher of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. Montes De Oca struck out a career-high 12 in his longest career outing as a Tiger Friday vs. UMBC, starting a combined no-hitter. It was the program’s 10th no-no and the first since Max Scherzer and Michael Cole combined to no-hit Texas Tech in 2005.
This marks the first SEC Pitcher of the Week honor for Montes De Oca and he is the first Mizzou pitcher to earn this distinction since May 22, 2017, when Cole Bartlett earned the nod after throwing a complete game, one-hitter at Tennessee.
Montes De Oca, who is college baseball’s No. 2-ranked senior (academic year) by PerfectGame.org, was untouchable Friday night in his third start of the season. He carved up the UMBC order efficiently and likely would have finished the game had it not been for a 26-pitch fifth inning during which he walked two. Those were the only baserunners against him all evening. Just one batted ball left the infield during his 7.0 innings and only two of the 21 outs he recorded were hit in the air, a foul out to first base and a shallow pop to left that was gloved by Mizzou SS Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.).
His Friday night start earned him a game score of 87, which was the fourth-best mark in the nation last week and second-best among schools from a Power 5 league. Montes De Oca now ranks second in the SEC with his 0.53 ERA while his 3.18 hits allowed per nine innings also rank second in the league. Over his last two starts, he has been virtually unhittable, boasting a 0.68 ERA with just four hits allowed in 13.1 innings while striking out 20 and walking just two. He is limiting batters to .093 hitting in that span.
This marks the first SEC Pitcher of the Week honor for Montes De Oca and he is the first Mizzou pitcher to earn this distinction since May 22, 2017, when Cole Bartlett earned the nod after throwing a complete game, one-hitter at Tennessee.
Montes De Oca, who is college baseball’s No. 2-ranked senior (academic year) by PerfectGame.org, was untouchable Friday night in his third start of the season. He carved up the UMBC order efficiently and likely would have finished the game had it not been for a 26-pitch fifth inning during which he walked two. Those were the only baserunners against him all evening. Just one batted ball left the infield during his 7.0 innings and only two of the 21 outs he recorded were hit in the air, a foul out to first base and a shallow pop to left that was gloved by Mizzou SS Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.).
His Friday night start earned him a game score of 87, which was the fourth-best mark in the nation last week and second-best among schools from a Power 5 league. Montes De Oca now ranks second in the SEC with his 0.53 ERA while his 3.18 hits allowed per nine innings also rank second in the league. Over his last two starts, he has been virtually unhittable, boasting a 0.68 ERA with just four hits allowed in 13.1 innings while striking out 20 and walking just two. He is limiting batters to .093 hitting in that span.
