It was a historic night for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, who blitzed Lansing (Mich.) 14-1 on Friday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

On a night when the offense equaled a season high in runs scored it was the pitching that took center stage as Blake Snell, Eduar Quinonez, Nick Sawyer, and Marcus Jensen combined for the first nine inning no-hitter in franchise history.

A no-hitter always has its defensive gem and Marty Gantt’s leaping catch in left center field was the gold standard in the field.

Here is reaction from Jensen, Sawyer, Gantt and manager Jared Sandberg.

Jensen

“I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I think if I did, I probably would have given up a hit. I have to give it up to my fielders and defense. They are the ones that kept us alive. You just let the ball go and hope it gets hit to the right person.”

“It kind of caught me by surprise. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about. Afterwards you are like, ‘Wow! That doesn’t really happen that often in baseball,” so it is really cool.”

“When you put up a 14-spot, there is not much you have to worry about. Sadly, the truth is, once it gets to that you are kind of worried about your own numbers. It’s the truth, but you are not supposed to say it. When you are pitching with that kind of lead you just pitch.”

Saywer

“I had no clue what was going on. I started noticing everybody looking at the board after every pitch. It feels amazing (to be part of a no-hitter). I will remember that for the rest of my career. To be a part of something that has never happened here before is huge.”

“This is a great accomplishment. This shows we’ve been working hard and we can go out there and no hit somebody.”

Gantt

“That dude hit that ball, and I thought it was over my head. Basically I was thinking, ‘There is no way I’m going to let this ball hit the ground.’ I was just lucky to run it down.”

“You really try not to talk about it. I’m pretty sure everybody on that field was pretty aware of it. I really thought the ball he hit down the left field line was going to break it up. If that would have happened I would have been heartbroken. (The pitchers) fought the whole night to get that.”

“It’s pretty special obviously. You don’t see it every day. You may play on a team once in your baseball career once that throws a no-hitter, especially playing professional baseball. You may never experience something like this again, so you just cherish the moment.”

Sandberg

“It is great to be part of history. No-hitters are difficult, especially when you get a bunch of pitchers involved. In the ninth inning, when Gantt made the play, everybody jumped off their seats. You could see over the course of the game that the guys were sitting in the same spot, had the same tendencies, the superstitions. You started to feel it around the sixth inning – the nervous energy.”

“It’s a great feeling. It’s fun. I haven’t had that feeling in my stomach, that nervous feeling that often – definitely the (New York-Penn League) championship game last year, but tonight I had the butterflies in the ninth inning.”

On the offense breaking out with 14 runs

“You and I have been talking about putting it all together. That’s putting all phases together – pitching, offense scoring some runs, and great defense too.”