Otters Throw No-Hitter to Open 2026 Season
Published on May 8, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
EVANSVILLE, Ind - The Evansville Otters (1-0) threw a combined no-hitter on Opening Night against the Florence Y'alls (0-1), taking the season opener 5-0.
The Otters called upon Grif Hughes to get the start in the first game of the season.
After a 1-2-3 first inning from Hughes, Dennis Pierce connected on an Evan Webster fastball and sent it over the left field wall for his first home run of the season.
The Otters would score two more runs in the third inning. Four straight hits by Jon Ponder, Amani Jones, Pierce and Logan Brown allowed two runs to come around, giving the Otters a 3-0 lead.
That would be the score for the majority of the rest of the game as Evan Webster settled down, while Hughes stayed hot on the bump.
Hughes finished his outing with six innings of no-hit ball with only one walk and eight strikeouts.
There were no hits on either side from the fourth inning to the eighth with Nolan Thebiay and Bradley Wilson competing for both sides out of the pen.
Evansville added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth. After a Jones walk, Brown hit a missile over the right field wall for a two-run HR, his first of the season.
Junior Cerda finished things off in the ninth, striking out both Hank Zeisler and Brendan Bobo to complete the combined no-hitter.
The game marked the fourth no-hitter in Otters' franchise history, the last coming on August 11, 2018 - a 7-inning combined no-hitter from Ty Hensley and Matt Chavarria.
The Otters will play game two of the series against the Y'alls tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. at Bosse Field.
All games can be heard on 96.9 WYIR and the Otters Digital Network and can be viewed live on the Frontier League Network on HTN.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
The Otters play all home games at historic Bosse Field, located at 23 Don Mattingly Way in Evansville, Ind. Stay up to date with the Evansville Otters by visiting evansvilleotters.com, or follow the Otters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call (812) 435-8686.
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