LINCOLN, NE – Saltdogs pitcher Austin Robichaux fell one out short of tossing a no-hitter on Thursday, but the right-hander was able to secure the American Association Pointstreak Pitcher of the Week award with his effort.

Robichaux (pronounced ROH-bi-SHOH) brought a no-hitter through 8.2 innings during his start against the Cleburne Railroaders on Thursday.  Trevor Sealey broke up the no-hit bid by smacking a double down the third-base line with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

The Louisiana native struck out the batter after Sealey to finish off a 2-0 win for Lincoln.  The nine-inning effort was Robichaux’s third complete game and second shutout of the season.  He did not walk a batter and tied his season-high with nine strikeouts.  Aside from the double, the only two mistakes from Robichaux came in the third inning when he hit two batters with consecutive pitches.

The 25-year-old is 4-6 with a 4.04 ERA this season but has been fantastic in the second half of the season.  He has turned in quality starts in six of his last seven outings and all three of his complete games happened in July or August.  Robichaux is 3-3 with a 3.36 ERA since the start of July and 2-0 with a 2.02 ERA over his last four starts.

If Robichaux had completed the no-no, he would have joined Jarrett Gardner as the only Saltdogs to throw no-hitters in franchise history.  Gardner tossed his on June 25, 2009 against El Paso.  There have only been five solo no-hitters and 14 one-hitters in American Association history.  The last Saltdogs one-hitter was on June 7, 2017 when Carlos Pimentel, J.R. Bunda and Michael Wagner combined to one-hit the Sioux Falls Canaries over an 11-inning game.

Robichaux spent four seasons in the Angels farm system and reached as high as Triple-A Salt Lake in 2017.  The Angels drafted him in the 18th round after his junior season at Louisiana-Lafayette University in 2014.  He was 19-9 with a 3.05 ERA while playing under his dad, Tony, as a Ragin Cajun.

The last Saltdogs hurler to earn Pitcher of the Week honors was Mike Tamburino on May 21, 2018.

Robichaux’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday, August 28 against Cleburne at Haymarket Park.

The Saltdogs (46-46) try for a series-clinching win against the Texas AirHogs on Monday.  First pitch is at 6:45 PM with coverage beginning at 4:35 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and http://saltdogs.com/stream.

For more information on the Saltdogs, follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball.  For ticket information visit https://saltdogs.com/tickets/ or call (402) 474-2255.