Rivera strikes out 16, throws first career no-hitter as No. 5 Walters State tops Rend Lake

MORRISTOWN, TN – If you ask Geo Rivera what he'll remember most about Sunday afternoon, he might tell you it's the two walks he gave up instead of the 16 strikeouts he recorded.

Regardless, Walters State's first game against Rend Lake on Sunday will go down as one for the books for Rivera and the Senators.

Rivera recorded a no-hitter in the seven-inning game, striking out 16 batters as the Senators topped Rend Lake, 8-0. 

Walters State won game two 12-2 in six innings as Jake Knapp pitched five strong innings, striking out 10. With the sweep, the Senators improve to 13-1 overall. 

For Rivera, it was the first no-hitter of his baseball career. 

"I honestly didn't think too much of it at the time," Rivera said. "I was more angry about the walks. But I was really happy about my performance and everything that I was able to do. They made some contact, but there were no hits."

Rivera used his fastball, which can get up to around 96 mph, to attack hitters from the beginning. Rivera got the first two outs of each of the first three innings with strikeouts and capped off the performance in the seventh by striking out the side.

"I was attacking most of the batters, and that's what was really going for me," Rivera said. "My fastball was the main factor today. My slider wasn't as good, but my fastball was really good today."

While not needed much in the game because of Rivera's dominance, Rivera credited a lot of what makes him comfortable on the mound to his defense behind him and what they bring to the table.

"What gives me the most confidence is the people behind me and especially my catcher," Rivera said. "They are always smiling and supportive. They bring me a lot of happiness, and that helps me even more out there." 

Game One: Walters State 8, Rend Lake 0 

Along with Rivera's performance in the game, the offense was going early and often as the Senators scored in each of the first five innings. 

Kruise Newman led the way at the plate with two hits, one a home run, and drove in two runs. Colby Backus also had two hits and an RBI. 

Walters State needed just two batters to get out in front in the bottom of the first against Rend Lake as Caleb McNeely was hit by a pitch and driven home by a Backus double. 

The Senators struck again in the second with another run as McNeely reached on an error that scored Cole McCallum and then three more times in the third. McCallum got the scoring started in the third when he doubled home Block. McCallum wouldn't spend long on the base path as Newman blasted a 2-run homer that made it 5-0.

Walters State added two more in the fourth as an error scored McNeely and Backus. The scoring concluded in the fifth when McNeely singled in Newman. 

Game Two: Walters State 12, Rend Lake 2 (6 innings)

Game two was more of the same for Walters State as they got a strong pitching performance from Knapp and the offense kept producing. 

Knapp improved to 4-0 on the season with the win as he went five innings, giving up no runs and striking out 10.

"I actually really struggled with my slider today, so I was able to really pick up on my changeup and my fastball was really working today," Knapp said. "I've got to give a shoutout to Kory (Klingenbeck) behind the plate for sticking with the slider and blocking it up. I just tried to get first pitch strikes and set the tone early. It was another good day." 

Nolan Letzgus pitched the final inning in relief, allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit.

Dalton McLain was the star at the plate in game two, going a perfect 3-for-3, hitting a home run, a double and knocking in two runs. McLain's home run ended things in the sixth inning. 

Along with McLain, Block drove in two runs as well and had two hits while Jackson Bryan unloaded for a 2-run pinch hit home run in the sixth. 

In total, Walters State had 12 hits in the game. For Knapp and Rivera, having that offense behind them has been huge during the early part of the season.

"It changes the whole game," Rivera said. "You are just so much more relaxed and can just go out there and ball out. You don't have too much to worry about. It takes so much off your shoulders." 

Walters State's runs came in bunches in game two as they used a seven-run third inning and five-run sixth inning.

In the third, McLain scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch. Backus made it 2-0 three batters later as he singled in Landon Slemp, and it was 3-0 when Noah Gent walked with the bases loaded. 

Four more runs came across in the inning as Block doubled in two, McCallum singled home one and McLain doubled in one. 

In the sixth, the Senators ended the game early as they used back-to-back home runs from Bryan and McLain. The first two runs of the inning came across home when McNeely scored on a balk and Shaw singled home a run. 

Up Next:

Walters State will have a week off before returning to action next weekend. The Senators will travel to Sumter, SC to play two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday.

"We just need to continue to fight complacency," Knapp said. "We have all the pieces to really win every game possible and so we just need to fight complacency. I think we have an older group, and we'll be able to do that. We're just going to go down there next weekend and hopefully get four more wins, enjoy some nicer weather and get back up here." 

Weekend Schedule:

Saturday, February 26

1 p.m.: WVU Potomac State College

4 p.m.: USC Sumter 

Sunday, February 27

1 p.m.: WVU Potomac State College

4 p.m.: USC Sumter 

 Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics