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Dartmouth
Matt Daley Throws 8 2/3 No-Hit Innings in 16-0 Bucknell Baseball Win Over Dartmouth
3/20/2004 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 20, 2004
BRADENTON, Fla. - Matt Daley was one out from throwing the fourth no-hitter in Bucknell history. The senior faced the minimum through 8 2/3 innings, with eight strikeouts and no base runners except for Dartmouth first baseman Patrick Nailer, who reached on a throwing error in the sixth and was picked off by catcher Phil Bunting. With two out in the Big Green ninth, centerfielder Will Bashelor, the 27th batter to face Daley (4-0), doubled to the centerfield wall, making the 16-0 Bucknell win the sixth one-hitter in school history.
Offense had not been a problem for Dartmouth (4-3) in previous games on the Florida trip, as Daley's near-perfection came just three days after the Big Green scored 23 runs on Fairleigh Dickinson. But it was Bucknell (9-5) with the high-powered offense on Saturday, as Kyle Walter and Pete Wolf led all hitters with four knocks each. Walter, the current Patriot League Player of the Week, pushed his average to .471, seven points higher than when he won the honor on Monday. Bunting had a game-high five RBI after batting just one runner in so far this season.
As Daley's quest for history rolled on, so did the Bucknell offense. The first Bison run came in the second inning, when Dartmouth starter Stephen Perry hit two batters and walked two more, with the run coming when Brian Day scored on Bunting's hit-by-pitch. The Bison added another in the third, when Day's sacrifice fly brought home Sam Moss. In the fourth, Bunting recorded two of his five RBI on his first home run of the season, a shot to right field that scored Steve Stutzman. Perry lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits.
Bucknell immediately got to Dartmouth reliever Chris Lapointe, who started the sixth inning. Lapointe allowed four straight hits to Ben Stoll, Moss, Walter, and Wolf, the final two of which each brought in a run. In the bottom half of the inning, Nailer hit a grounder to Stoll that the shortstop fielded and threw outside the reach of Day at first base, breaking up the bid for a perfect game. When the next batter, right fielder Chris Grimm, struck out looking, Bunting fired down to first and picked off Nailer. Daley continued his no-hit bid by retiring the next nine Dartmouth batters.
Meanwhile, the Bison hitters continued pounding the Big Green pitching staff. Lapointe was pulled in the eighth in favor of Jeff Wilkerson after giving up nine hits and seven runs, six of which were earned. Wilkerson retired two of the three Bucknell hitters he faced, as only Bunting reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Bucknell scored five runs in the eighth, started off by doubles from Moss and Walter and singles to Wolf, Brian Hirschberg, and Chris Mahony. Four of the five hits each brought in a run, giving Bucknell an 11-0 lead before Wilkerson ended the inning.
Bucknell matched its run total in the ninth. Mark Criscimagna started the inning for Dartmouth and was charged with all five runs and five hits before John Huelskamp got the last Bucknell out and gave way to Daley's last hurdle to history. Moss, Walter, and Ilsley Colton all got hits to start the inning, with Walter's hit an RBI-triple and Colton's bringing in a run as well. Colton's hit was his first as a Bison for the junior transfer. Stutzman brought in another with a double, and Bunting completed the scoring and his potent offensive day with a two-RBI double.
With no more interruptions between Daley and school history, the senior set to face what he hoped would be his final three batters. The ninth had a striking similarity to the sixth, as the first three Dartmouth batters all but re-enacted their previous at bats. Nailer grounded to Stoll, who this time fielded cleanly and recorded the out. Grimm struck out looking, just as in his last at bat. Daley then faced Bashelor, one out away from the first no-hitter at Bucknell in almost exactly six years, since Mike Tomko and Matt Potalivo blanked Niagara on March 17, 1998. Bashelor, who flew out to Walter in centerfield in his last at bat, again connected and drove one deep to Walter's position. This one, however, fell in behind Walter at the wall, ending Daley's no-hit bid. Left fielder Scott Shirrell grounded out to Moss to end the game.
Bucknell's last one-hitter was last season, when Zachery Allen one-hit Army on April 20, 2003. The 16 runs and 20 hits were the most for Bucknell since last season's Patriot League Championship Series, when Bucknell clinched the league crown by pounding Navy for 20 runs on 23 hits.
The Bison ended their Florida trip going 5-2 in the Sunshine State. Bucknell returns home to face Penn State on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Bucknell 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 5 5 -- 16 20 1 Dartmouth 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 1 2Daley and Bunting; Perry, Lapointe (6), Wilkerson (8), Criscimagna (9), Huelskamp (9) and Speights.
WP - Daley (4-0). LP - Perry (0-1).
RBI - B: Moss, Walter 3, Wolf 2, Colton, Day, Mahony, Stutzman 2, Bunting 5.
2B - B: Moss, Walter, Wolf, Stutzman, Bunting; D: Bashelor. 3B - B: Walter.Team Records - Bucknell 9-5. Dartmouth 4-3.
