Duke's Bryce Jarvis latest D-I pitcher to throw perfect game
Duke is celebrating the first perfect game in the program's 131-year history.
Bryce Jarvis struck out a career-high 15 while retiring all 27 batters in the opener of a weekend series against Cornell, the 31st perfect game since the NCAA began tracking the statistic in 1957.
This is the seventh straight year at least one Division I pitcher has achieved perfection.
Jarvis struck out at least one batter in eight innings and also got 10 groundouts and two flyouts in the 8-0 win Friday. Jarvis went to a three-ball count just once in a 94-pitch outing.
"This was the best that I've felt in the bullpen in a long time," Jarvis said. "My mindset was to go out there and control what I can control. Once the ball leaves my hand, there's nothing that I can do about it. I have to trust that my defense is going to make a play if they put it in play. After the pitch leaves my hand, it's on to the next one.”
It was the first perfect game since East Carolina's Jake Kuchmaner threw one against Maryland on March 17, 2019. There's been at least one perfect game each year since 2014.
Jarvis is the son of Kevin Jarvis, who made 187 pitching appearances in a 12-year major league career that ended in 2006. The junior right-hander succeeded Ben Gross as the Blue Devils' No. 1 starter after allowing just one earned run in 15 innings during the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Jarvis was Duke's starter opposite Kumar Rocker when the Vanderbilt star threw the first no-hitter in the history of the super-regional round. Jarvis pitched one-hit ball over seven innings that night and took the loss.
There were two other no-hitters over the weekend. Mississippi's Doug Nikhazy, Drew McDaniel and Jackson Kimbrell combined for one in a 13-0 win over Xavier on Friday and UNC Greensboro's Jake Lewis and Austin Parsley teamed up for one in a 1-0 win against Fairfield on Saturday.
IN THE POLLS
Florida (8-0) moved to No. 1 in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America rankings after posting a hard-earned three-game sweep at Miami. UCLA is No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
The Gators have won 15 of 18 against Miami. Jacob Young doubled in the tie-breaking run in the 11th inning of a 2-1 win Friday and went 7 for 13 in the series. Kirby McMullen homered to start a five-run 10th inning in a 7-4 win Saturday. Freshman Hunter Barco allowed one earned run and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings of a 5-3 win Sunday.
The Bruins (7-0), coming off a three-game sweep of Saint Mary's, have allowed one or zero runs in six straight games and have an ERA of 0.71 with 88 strikeouts in 63 innings.
HITTING FOR CYCLE
New Mexico State's Nick Gonzales hit for the cycle in an 18-4 win over Iona on Sunday, finishing 5 for 6 with seven RBIs. He homered in the first inning, doubled in the third, tripled in the sixth, homered in the seventh and singled in the eighth. Gonzales leads the nation with seven homers in eight games and is batting .567 with 26 RBIs.
WEIRD SHUTOUT
LSU, which took two of three against Eastern Kentucky, was shut out for the first time in 46 games when five Colonels pitchers combined on a three-hitter on a cool, windy night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2-0 loss Friday left Tigers coach Paul Mainieri scratching his head.
“Eastern Kentucky used a very unorthodox style of pitching,” he said. “Many of their pitches weren’t even 70 mph."
HOT SPARTAN
Michigan State's Bailey Peterson, who entered the season as a .203 hitter in 56 career games, is third in the nation with a .613 batting average through eight games. The senior second baseman was 12 for 17 (.706) as the Spartans dropped three of four against Merrimack. He's driven in 14 runs, twice his total the last two seasons.
SEMINOLE POWER
Florida State is 6-1 under new coach Mike Martin Jr. after Elijah Cabell's big weekend. Cabell hit three homers and drove in 11 runs in a sweep of Cincinnati. The sophomore hit three-run homers Friday and Saturday and had the second grand slam of his career on Sunday.
He had a .667 on-base percentage in the three games, getting hit by pitches five times and drawing two walks.
