If Thursday night was Hagen Smith's final start of 2025, he saved his best for last. He threw five overwhelming innings as the Barons carried a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning, settling for a one-hit 4-0 blanking of the Chattanooga Lookouts in Game 2 of the Southern League Divisional Series.
Smith fell behind 3-0 to his first batter of the evening, but roared back to lock up Edwin Arroyo on a backdoor breaking ball, and that instead set the tone for the evening. He struck out 10 over his five innings, and gained steam as the evening progressed. He retired the final eight batters he faced, and needed just 22 pitches to complete the fourth and fifth innings, even though he struck out five.
The Barons staved off elimination, and will now have a chance to eliminate the Lookouts in Game 3 tonight.
Durham 3, Charlotte 2
- Tim Elko singled and struck out thrice.
- Bryan Ramos was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Shane Murphy dabbles with ineffiency: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 56 of 86 pitches for strikes.
- Peyton Pallette: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 11 of 19 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 4, Chattanooga 0
- Rikuu Nishida singled, walked, dropped a sac bunt and struck out twice.
- William Bergolla was 1-for-4 with a sac bunt.
- Sam Antonacci went 1-for-4.
- Ryan Galanie singled, walked and struck out twice.
- DJ Gladney went 1-for-4.
- Hagen Smith: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, 48 of 73 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*The best-of-three series is tied at 1, with the deciding game tonight.
Durham 7, Charlotte 3 (Wednesday)
- Tim Elko was 0-for-4.
- Bryan Ramos went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
