College Baseball SZN is back, and it is honestly one of my favorite times of the year. With the end of college hoops regular season here and seeing it Implode and drop at an alarming rate (Just like the Bags), Spring Training is in full swing now *BA DUM TISS*, and America’s favorite pastime just started in the college world and we are off to an electric start. We have a duo of no-hitters to start off the College Season, and one was perfect.
On Friday, the North Dakota State Bisons (Yes, Carson Wentz’s school) took on Central Connecticut State in the Snowbird Baseball Classic. Bisons Sophomore right-handed pitcher Riley Johnson took the mound to take on the Blue Devils, and he was lights out. After pitching a full 9 innings, Johnson had a career high 8 strikeouts with only one batter on base due to a Walk. He secured the Bison’s first no-hitter since the 2004 season.
? NO-NO ALERT ?@NDSUbaseball Riley Johnson pitches the first Solo No-Hitter of the 2018 Season!
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— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) February 23, 2018
And Then, not even a full two days later, Washington decided to show Jake Browning how to really throw and pitched a perfect game. U-Dub was taking on University of Riverside (Fun Fact: This college was 20 minutes away from my house and they didn’t want to accept me so HAHAHAHA) with Joe DeMers taking the mound for the Huskies. The right handed pitcher retired 9 batters with strikeouts, with the other 8 players helping with 12 ground out and 6 flyouts. All 27 batters took a seat on the bench consecutively with DeMers tossing a total of only 84 pitches. This is Washington’s first perfect game ever and only the 5th in PAC-12 History.
Dust off the history books. ?@UW_Baseball RHP Joe DeMers just tossed the 5⃣th perfect game in #Pac12BSB history and 2⃣8⃣th in @NCAACWS history. pic.twitter.com/dtUm5eP2mm
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 25, 2018
“Oh, well we see perfect games in MLB every once in a while so why is it so special in college?” Well, I have 2 reasons why it is a big deal. First, as an ex-pitcher, I never once even flirted with throwing a no-hitter, let alone a perfect game, and the feeling that these two had afterwards must have been amazing. Plus, going into the NCAA history books as one of the few sacred Perfect Games is an accomplishment all in it self. Here is a list of pitchers in NCAA Baseball who have thrown a perfect game since 1957 (When perfect games were first recorded):
| DATE | PLAYER | TEAM VS. OPPONENT |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 24, 2018 | Joe DeMers | Washington vs. UC Riverside |
| March 25, 2017 | Cory Abbott | Loyola Marymount vs. BYU |
| March 11, 2016 | Jesse Scholtens | Wright State vs. Dayton |
| March 21, 2015 | Drew Rasmussen | Oregon State vs. Washington State |
| March 4, 2014 | Javi Salas | Miami (Fla.) vs. Villanova |
| March 29, 2011 | Will Roberts | Virginia vs. George Washington |
| April 9, 2003 | Greg Prenger | Ohio State vs. Oakland (7 innings) |
| March 2, 2002 | Eric Brandon | Auburn vs. Murray State |
| April 29, 2000 | Chad Blackwell | Iowa vs. Northwestern (7 innings) |
| April 26, 1997 | John Stewart | Western Mich. vs. Akron (7 innings) |
| April 13, 1996 | Chris McConnell | St. Francis (NY) vs. Marist |
| April 30, 1991 | Jason Johnson | Auburn vs. LaGrange (7 innings) |
| May 3, 1987 | Mark Bowlan | Memphis vs. Louisville |
| March 14, 1987 | Kevin Sheary | Miami (Fla.) vs. Southern Illinois |
| May 3, 1980 | Cliff Faust | Nebraska vs. Kansas (7 innings) |
| April 19, 1980 | Joe Housey | New Orleans vs. Southeastern La. (7 innings) |
| March 10, 1973 | Joe McIntosh | Washington St. vs. Whitworth (7 innings) |
| March 20, 1972 | Jim Jacobsen | Oklahoma St. vs. Houston (5 innings) |
| April 17, 1971 | Bill Balfoort | Buffalo vs. Rochester (NY) (7 innings) |
| March 26, 1971 | Larry Angell | Washington St. vs. Eastern Wash. (7 innings) |
| March 22, 1968 | Rick Austin | Washington St. vs. Gonzaga (7 innings) |
| May 5, 1967 | Bruce Baudier | LSU vs. Alabama (7 innings) |
| 1967 | Larry Gonsalves | Fresno St. vs. Cal Poly |
| April 20, 1965 | Bob Schauenberg | Iowa vs. Central (Iowa) |
| April 20, 1965 | George Dugan | Murray St. vs. Austin Peay |
| May 3, 1963 | Don Woeltjen | Georgia vs. Georgia Tech |
| April 10, 1959 | Dick Reitz | Maryland vs. Johns Hopkins |
27 Perfect Games since 1957. 27. A High-School class size is the handful of people who have had a perfect game. Less than a week in, we already have a performance one over the minimum and an actual perfect game. If this is just a taste of how the season will be, then buckle up, folks, because it’s going to be a crazy season. Also, baseball is less dramatic than college basketball , you can actually yell at the umps, and twice the fun in person.
