The following article was taken from Charleston’s Post and Courier.  After his performance against Western Carolina, Picolla was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week. Baseball Factory congratulates Zach Piccola on his immediate impact as a freshman.

John Pawlowski admits he took a chance when he put freshman Zach Piccola on the mound Sunday at Western Carolina.

“You never know what you’re going to get when you put a freshman out there,” the College of Charleston baseball coach said Monday.

What the Cougars got was a nice surprise — the first no-hitter in school history. Piccola, a hard-throwing left-hander, pitched eight innings of no-hit ball, and sophomore reliever Brett Harker worked out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the ninth to preserve the no-hitter.

“Those things just don’t happen nowadays,” Pawlowski said. “With the aluminum bats now and with the kids so big and strong, it’s very rare to see those things anymore. That’s why it was so special.”

Piccola, a 6-4, 215-pounder from Bedford, N.H., walked four and struck out six batters in the Cougars’ 7-0 victory. But in the ninth, he loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter.

“I just got a little wild there at the end,” Piccola said. “I was tired and just didn’t realize it. I was just glad that Harker was able to come in and get out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam. That’s incredibly hard to do.”

As Piccola left the mound Sunday, he caught Harker’s eye.

“We made eye contact,” Piccola said. “He told me later he got a big adrenaline rush and really wanted to keep the no-hitter going.”

Harker did just that, getting three outs on a strikeout, a pop-up and a line drive to shortstop.

“There were hugs all around and everyone congratulated each other,” Piccola said. “It was a nice feeling.”

It was especially nice for Piccola because his parents were on the scene in Cullowhee, N.C., on short notice. Pawlowski informed Piccola Saturday night that he’d make his first SoCon start the next day. Piccola, who threw a no-hitter in high school, called his parents, who flew from New Hampshire to Asheville before driving to Cullowhee in time for the game.

“It was great to have them there,” said Piccola, whose father, Jay Piccola, played professional basketball in the ABA and the NBA. “I hadn’t seen my mom in a couple of weeks.”

Pawlowski, whose team is 12-5 and off to a 3-0 start in the SoCon Freshman Piccola is 2-0 with 0.92 ERA for Charlestona fter sweeping Western Carolina, also had a nice feeling about the day’s events. With starting pitchers Matt Soale and Ryan Johnson on the mend, Pawlowski was not sure where his starting pitching would come from.

Now, Piccola, who is 2-0 with an earned-run average of 0.92, will get plenty of chances to crack the rotation.

“With two guys on our staff trying to get healthy, that performance will certainly give Zach some more opportunities,” Pawlowski said. “He’s a freshman lefty, and if you’re a lefty, that’s half the battle. And he’s got some ability, too. He throws a fastball, breaking ball and a changeup, and he’s got a chance to be a pretty good power pitcher.”

Piccola, who had 11 ground-ball outs against Western Carolina, credited center fielder Brett Gardner, left fielder Byron Barber and third baseman Jess Easterling with catching some balls he thought were hits.

The Cougars host Wofford (8-3, 2-1) for three games Saturday and Sunday, and with a trip to Appalachian State (2-15, 2-7) coming up March 26-28 have a chance to get off to great start in the SoCon.

“To go up to Western and win three games, that is a great start for us,” Pawlowski said. “The weekend before, Western had hit 15 home runs in three games. So it certainly gives us a lot of confidence.”