DETROIT -- Former North Dakota baseball pitcher Zach Muckenhirn made his Major League Baseball debut on Wednesday night for the New York Mets, becoming the first player in UND history to reach the big leagues.
The southpaw came out the bullpen to relieve veteran starter Max Scherzer in the fourth innings of the Mets' game against the Detroit Tigers. It was a near-perfect outing for Muckenhirn, tossing 1.2 innings of one-hit, no-run ball with no walks surrendered, including a double play to escape a jam in the fourth.
Muckenhirn played three seasons at North Dakota and became one of the most dominant pitchers in program history, ranking fourth in school history with 200 career strikeouts and eventually being selected in the 11th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. In his final season with the Fighting Hawks, the Delano, Minn., native earned All-WAC Second Team honors after leading the conference with 99 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks. He tallied at least eight K's in eight of his 13 starts, including fanning a career-high 14 in 7.1 innings in a contest at Sacramento State.
His biggest moment in the green and white came in the season opener that year, firing a three-hit, nine-strikeout shutout gem against then-12th-ranked Southern California in a 1-0 UND win to earn national player of the week honors. Muckenhirn would follow that up a week later with 12 more strikeouts and eight scoreless innings in a win over Alabama.
Muckenhirn has spent time with the Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Mets organizations, but had never reached the major league level until this week. At AAA Syracuse this year, Muckenhirn has pitched in six games this season. In 11.2 innings, he has four strikeouts and holds a 0.77 earned-run average.
North Dakota has now placed an alum in the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB.
