WVU's Ian Korn Helps Toss a Combined No-Hitter for Giants' Low-A Affiliate

Korn always finds himself being a part of some history.

WVU Athletics Communications

It wasn't all that long ago that Ian Korn was helping create some history at West Virginia, contributing to their first-ever trip to the College World Series.

In just his third appearance as a pro, he helped create more history, this time with the San Jose Giants, the Low-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, who drafted him in the 10th round (298th overall).

Korn was the first man the Giants called in out of the bullpen on Tuesday night after a clean five innings from starter Argenis Cayama. Korn tossed up a couple of zeroes and struck out one batter before turning it over to Eric Nachtsheim, who took it the rest of the way to finish the no-hitter — just the third in franchise history and the first-ever at their home ballpark.

The first San Jose Giants no-hitter at Excite Ballpark, and third in franchise history! pic.twitter.com/2NoWC8T8L6

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) September 16, 2026

After a pretty chunky workload with West Virginia this spring, the Giants were always going to be extremely cautious with his usage for the remainder of the season, which is now over after falling to Lake Elsinore in the championship series.

Being an older prospect, it will be interesting to see where Korn is assigned to begin the 2027 season. I doubt he will begin at Double-A, but I also don't see him returning to Low-A. This was to get his feet wet in the organization and be mindful of his workload.

He is one of those guys who does not care what role he is in. You just give him the ball, and he'll go as long as you need him to, be it an out, an inning, three innings, or a complete game as a starter. There is no ego involved, and he's able to pitch efficiently whether he's a starter, a long-relief guy, middle relief, or a high-leverage option late in the game, and that's something that the Giants' organization is going to fall in love with.

If Korn pounds the strike zone as he did during his lone season in Morgantown, we should see him climb the ladder through the minors pretty quickly. He may need to develop another pitch or two to make it to the big leagues, but the work ethic and care factor are there.

Korn made 24 appearances for the Mountaineers in 2026, 21 of which came out of the bullpen. He ended the year with a 3.39 ERA, punching out 70 while walking just 13 in 79.2 innings of work.