A cycle and a no-no? This college player did both in the same game

April 8th, 2023
Jacob Walton / UIndy Athletics

Have you ever heard of someone hitting for the cycle and throwing a no-hitter in the same game?

Well, now you have. Meet Brady Ware of the DII University of Indianapolis Greyhounds, who had the kind of day that only feels achievable if you’re playing as Shohei Ohtani in MLB The Show.

The graduate student finished 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs and five RBIs … while striking out 11 batters across seven hitless innings against Drury University in Game 2 of a doubleheader. 

“I was about 15 minutes late today, so I’ll be about 15 minutes late every day,” Ware joked to a teammate after the commanding 13-0 win.

It’s not often that a single player can carry a whole baseball team, but in this instance, Ware took care of just about everything. The lefty set the tone early with a towering solo homer to kick off the scoring before adding a three-run triple in the same frame as the Greyhounds put up an eight-spot in the second.

In the very next inning, the 6-foot-1 slugger ripped an RBI double down the left-field line to push Indianapolis’ lead to 12-0. He completed the cycle in the fifth with a single through the right side.

For Ware, though, that wasn’t enough. On the mound, the southpaw retired the first nine batters in a row before he ran into some trouble, starting with a wild pitch on a swinging strikeout to kick off the fourth. Another wild pitch and a walk put runners on first and second with nobody out, but two K’s and a flyout kept Drury off the board.

Ware struck out the side in the sixth and added his 11th and final whiff in the seventh frame. He issued a pair of two-out walks, but stayed calm and induced a game-ending flyout to close the book on his historic performance.

What was going through the mind of a player who just achieved such a feat, you ask?

“About nothing,” Ware said. “Kinda blank right now. But I’m excited.”