Rockford, Mich. — Five days away from reaching a full calendar year, the Aquinas baseball team threw an extremely rare nine-pitcher shutout on Thursday (Mar. 30) to defeat Grace Christian, 4-0. The last time the Saints had blanked an opponent was Grace Christian on Apr. 4, 2022.

AQ (9-14, 1-5 WHAC) snapped a four-game losing streak in the process, while the Tigers dropped to 2-20 overall on a chilly, overcast evening at the Meijer Sports Complex in Rockford, Mich.

The nine-inning game was a late addition to the calendar for both squads as weather postponements freed up enough available to squeeze in the non-conference affair.

The bats struggled to warm up throughout the evening as the two teams combined for nine hits. All four of AQ's runs weren't scored on traditional base knocks. 

The first, and what turned out to be the game-winning run, came in the second inning on a dropped ball in left field off the bat of Braden Brown. Joseph Kelley crossed home plate.

An inning later in the third, Dawson Shearer grounded out to second base to bring in Grant Martin. The 2-0 lead held up until the sixth inning when the Saints successfully pulled off the double steal of second and home base. Nicolas Verdugo drew the catcher's attention by swiping second and Drew Mitchell snuck in behind to take home on the throw across the infield.

Shearer earned a second RBI in the seventh on a fielder's choice groundout to score Tyler Zomerlei, who later came in to pitch the ninth inning as AQ's ninth pitcher used.

The Saints pitching merry-go-round went like this: Martin (1st inning), Mason Hill (2nd), Conor Gausselin (3rd), Ethan Pequette (4th), Tristan Hysell (5th), Nathan Myers (6th), Caden Gregory (7th), Evan Douglass (8th) and Zomerlei (9th).

No pitcher threw more than 16 pitches to get all three outs in their respective inning, with Myers having the shortest outing with eight pitches. No pitcher allowed more than one hit or faced more than four batters in an inning.

The nine of them combined for 12 strikeouts. Gregory stuck out the side in his inning.

Hill (4-3) picked up the win with AQ scoring its first run in the bottom of the second inning.

Next up, Aquinas looks to get in a pair of conference doubleheaders this weekend against UM-Dearborn. The Saints will travel to Wixom, Mich., on Saturday (Apr. 1) to try and avoid bad weather to get in what was supposed to be a home twin bill. If played, the two games will be held at the Total Sports Complex starting at 11 a.m.

Then, on Sunday (Apr. 2), AQ returns home to play a second doubleheader against UM-Dearborn at Cornerstone's De Witt Field. Game action scheduled to start at 4 p.m.