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#SunDevilMoments Quarterfinals: Ryan Hingst's no-hitter vs. Jon Rahm winning Hogan Award

The last quarterfinal in our #SunDevilMoments series features Hingst's no-hitter against Rahm winning the Ben Hogan Award.

By Connor Pelton
Blake Benard

We have now reached our last matchup in the quarterfinals of our #SunDevilMoments series. Yesterday, we saw our No. 2 moment - Kareem Orr's pick-six against Arizona - narrowly advancing to the semis. Here is how our full bracket looks with five moments remaining.

#SunDevilMoments Quarterfinals - Seed No. 3: Ryan Hingst throws no-hitter vs. Seed No. 6: Jon Rahm wins second straight Ben Hogan Award

#SunDevilMoments No. 3 Seed: Ryan Hingst throws a no-hitter against Utah

Needless to say, the Arizona State baseball team needed something, anything, to happen.

Coming into a late-March game against lowly Utah, the Sun Devils had dropped five straight games and were in danger of losing all momentum gained from a surprising 13-3 start to the year.

Then, Ryan Hingst stepped up.

Almost out of nowhere, the sophomore right-hander pieced together one of the greatest pitching performances in program history, methodically making his way through the Ute lineup time and again. He hit one batter and allowed two others to reach via walks, but when center fielder Andrew Shaps camped under the 27th and final out of the night, it was official.

Hingst had thrown the 10th no-hitter in Arizona State history.

It took the righty 121 pitches to complete the game, which, as head coach Tracy Smith put it after, was right where his limit was.

"121 (pitches) is what we set it at," joked Smith. "Thank God he got him on that last pitch, because we were going to take him out."

The no-hitter was the first since 2013, when Ryan Kellogg accomplished the same feat against Oregon State.

As the season progressed, Hingst's act proved to be even more impressive. While Utah was just 7-13 at the time, the team would go on to win the Pac-12 and take the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The no-hitter also seemed to spark the Sun Devils, who went on to win seven of their next eight series. Smith's young team ended up earning a No. 2 seed into the NCAA Tournament, eventually advancing to the Fort Worth Regional final before falling to host TCU.

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#SunDevilMoments Seed No. 6: Jon Rahm wins second straight Ben Hogan Award

It's tough to top winning one Ben Hogan Award, which is awarded annually to college golf's top individual golfer.

Arizona State's Jon Rahm managed to do it, however, taking home the prize for a second consecutive year this past May. The Sun Devil senior is the first golfer to ever accomplish that feat, showing just how challenging and rare it is to play at that kind of level for two straight seasons.

Rahm did it by shining individually week in and week out for the maroon and gold, not once finishing outside the top 10 in any of the 13 tournaments he competed in. He took home four individual wins throughout the season, while also finishing inside the top three on three other occasions.

His 11 victories rank second in program history behind Phil Mickelson (16).

Rahm seemed to shift into a second gear as the middle of February rolled around for Arizona State. He led the Sun Devils to a second place finish (and a T3 individually) in The Prestige tournament in La Quinta, California, then posted three consecutive top fives in his next three events, including a win at his home course in the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe.

Postseason play began in April at the Pac-12 Championships in Salt Lake City, where Rahm won another individual title while also helping his team clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. His -12 finish was four shots clear of the next closest competitor that weekend at The Country Club.

Rahm finished first for his second straight event two weeks later in the NCAA Regionals, sewing up a spot for both him and the rest of his team in the NCAA Championships. While competing with the rest of the best players and teams across the country at the national title in Eugene, Oregon, Rahm rolled in a birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the event to finish in a tie for third among all individual competitors.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, his performance was not enough to send his team into the quarterfinals of the tournament. Tim Mickelson's team finished in ninth place, just one spot out of the cut to compete in the match play portion of the event.

Still, Rahm and the rest of the Arizona State golf team had a very successful season, having a shot to win in nearly every event it competed in. Sun Devil fans can watch Rahm compete in next week's U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, which is slated to be his last event as an amateur.

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