Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh *
No-Hitter! Matt Daley Blanks Lehigh Bats for Fourth No-Hit Game in School History
4/3/2004 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Two weeks after being denied the fourth no-hitter in Bucknell history by the 27th Dartmouth batter in a 16-0 win, Matt Daley (6-0) achieved the honor in a consummate seven-inning 1-0 pitchers' duel against Lehigh, striking out ten, walking none, and putting two hit batsmen between himself and a perfect game. Lehigh starter Jack Muscalus (4-2) pitched a fine three-hit outing as well for the Mountain Hawks (15-11, 2-4 PL), but one run was all the Bison (13-9, 4-2 PL) needed behind Daley's record performance.
The last no-hitter for Bucknell came on Mar. 17, 1998, when Mike Tomko and Matt Potalivo combined to shut down Niagara. Daley's blanking is only the second over a Patriot League school by the Bison and comes 11 years to the day after Kurt Waldner performed the feat against Lafayette. That was Bucknell's second no hitter and the first since 1956.
Lehigh was not a team lacking offense, as the Mountain Hawks began the game hitting .287 as a team with six starters above .300 on the year and pounded the Bison for nine runs on 15 hits in game two. Daley, however, continued his remarkable streak of 29 innings without an earned run, and dropped his ERA from 2.31 entering the game to 1.93.
Lehigh had but two baserunners, with Jesse Novalis earning first base twice by being hit with a Daley pitch. The senior retired 17-straight Mountain Hawks between the two Novalis passes.
Kyle Walter had two of Bucknell's three hits but was stranded both times. Bucknell's run came in the third inning when Steve Stutzman doubled to left center to start the frame and came home two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Ben Stoll. Muscalus threw all six innings, and had four strikeouts with his four baserunners coming on the three hits and an error by second baseman John Zaszewski that allowed counterpart Sam Moss to reach.
But the Mountain Hawks exacted revenge for Daley's no-hitter on the Bison in the second game, winning 9-6. While Moss led Bucknell with two RBI and Stoll went three-for-five, Andrew Smith and Mike McBride both had four hits for Lehigh, while Smith and Forrest Doane both had three RBI.
Lehigh got four runs off Bucknell starter Kevin Miller (2-3) in the first inning, and all with two out. Doane hit a three-run home run to put Lehigh up 3-0, and Steve Salemme singled Smith home before Smith ended the inning trying to stretch the hit. All four of the runs were unearned for Miller as Eric Hoffman reached on an error to start the game.
Bucknell began chipping away in the bottom of the first, as Pete Wolf grounded out to bring home Stoll, and Day singled home Moss, halving the Lehigh lead. Miller held Lehigh scoreless until the fourth, when David Moscow doubled home Smith to put the visitors up 5-2.
The Bison chased Lehigh starter Karl Weimer from the game after the fourth inning, in which Bucknell cut Lehigh's lead to 5-4. Phil Bunting doubled home Stutzman, who led off the inning with a walk, and scored on a Stoll single. Weimer finished his outing after surrendering four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Lehigh pushed the margin to two in the sixth inning when Miller threw a third-strike wild pitch to left fielder Andrew Smith with two outs and surrendered three consecutive hits before getting shortstop Eric Hoffman to ground out with the bases loaded. The inning was Miller's last, having given up 11 hits on six runs with five strikeouts.
Jacob Moss entered in the seventh and allowed Lehigh to push its lead to 8-4 on a Smith two-RBI single. Bucknell cut the lead in half once again in its seventh-inning at-bat, powered by Sam Moss's two-run home run to right field, his first of the season. Lehigh reliever Joel Hockman (2-1) left after the inning, allowing four hits and two runs while picking up the win. The Mountain Hawks widened their lead to 9-6 in the top of the ninth when Smith singled home catcher Matt McBride, and reliever Kyle Collina kept Bucknell from closing the gap in the last two innings to earn his third save of the year.
Bucknell and Lehigh will conclude the series tomorrow with another doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
Game 1 Lehigh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 0 1 Bucknell 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -- 1 3 0Daley and Bunting; Muscalus and McBride. WP - Daley (6-0). LP - Muscalus (4-2).
RBI - B: Stoll. 2B - B: Stutzman.Team Records: Lehigh 14-11, 1-4 PL. Bucknell 13-8, 4-1 PL.
Game 2 Lehigh 4 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 -- 9 15 0 Bucknell 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 -- 6 11 2
Miller, Moss, J. (7) and Bunting, Barrett (7); Weimer, Hockman (5), Collina (8) and McBride.
WP - Hockman (2-1). LP - Miller (2-3). Save - Collina (3).
RBI - B: Stoll, Moss, S. 2, Wolf, Day, Bunting; L: Doane 3, Smith 3, Salemme, Moscow 2.
2B - B: Stoll, Bunting; L: McBride 2, Smith, Moscow. HR - B: Moss. S (1); L: Doane (3).Team Records: Lehigh 15-11, 2-4 PL. Bucknell 13-9, 4-2 PL.
