GRANVILLE, W.Va. — Nick Snyder thought he had it.
The West Virginia junior left-hander was one pitch away from recording the program’s first nine-inning no-hitter since 2002, and threw the kind of pitch that often ends these things with a dog pile on the mound.
“He felt what was happening,” said Mountaineers coach Randy Mazey. “We all felt what was happening.”
Unfortunately for Snyder, Marshall leadoff hitter Erik Rodriguez was a hard man to kill for that final out. Rodriguez hit a chopper that bounced sky-high off the artificial turf about 12 feet from home plate, then took a long-arcing hop before landing oddly in the shallow infield as second baseman Tyler Doanes charged it in vain.