The American Athletic Conference saw two incredible pitching performances out of North Carolina on Friday, March 7.
Charlotte’s Blake Gillespie threw the second no-hitter in program history as the 49ers blanked JMU, 5-0. Meanwhile, East Carolina’s Ethan Norby set a conference single-game record by striking out 19 batters in the Pirates’ 7-0 shutout over No. 24 Coastal Carolina.
Gillespie faced the minimum number of hitters, issuing just one walk—who was quickly erased on a caught stealing by catcher Logan Poteet. In doing so, Gillespie joined Ronnie Honeycutt as the only pitchers in Charlotte history to record a no-hitter. He struck out 11, marking the seventh time this season the 49ers (5-6) have reached double-digit strikeouts as a team. Gillespie was in complete control, throwing over 70% of his pitches for strikes, walking just one batter, and working into a full count only twice over nine innings.
For ECU, Norby shattered the previous AAC single-game strikeout record of 18, set by Memphis’ Jonathan Bowlan on April 28, 2018, against South Florida. Norby and reliever Ethan Young, who added three more strikeouts in relief, tied the Pirates’ team record for strikeouts in a single game.
Norby pitched a career-high 7.1 innings, and together with Young, helped ECU tally the most strikeouts by any team in a game this season. Norby’s 19 strikeouts are also the highest by any pitcher in the country so far in 2025.
