COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball sophomore Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) was honored by USA Baseball when the organization released its annual awards on Tuesday (Feb. 4), earning USA Baseball’s International Performance of the Year for his efforts in a combined no-hitter against Cuba. The game was part of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team’s five-game series with Cuba over the summer.

Houck shares the award with Texas A&M’s Ryan Hendrix, Clemson’s Chris Okey and Florida’s A.J. Puk. Houck started the opening game of a five-game series against Cuba and tossed 4.0 perfect innings before Hendrix and Puk shut the door over the final five frames. In all, Cuba had just two baserunners in the game (walk and error) while Houck did not allow a Cuba player to reach base during his four innings. The win snapped a five-game winning streak for Cuba against the USA Collegiate National Team and it is the only time Cuba’s national team has been no-hit in international play.

The start against Cuba was the highlight of what was a very successful summer with USA Baseball for Houck. He led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and starts while boasting an 11-1 strikeout-walk ratio and a .159 opponent batting average.

— Mizzou Athletics —