Junior Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) pitched a no-hitter in game one's 3-0 victory over Saint Mary's in the Johnnies’ MIAC sweep April 21.The no-hitter is the first for SJU since Andy Schneider no-hit St. Olaf in a 10-0 win on April 11, 1998, and is the fourth by a Johnnie under head coach Jerry Haugen's 34-year tenure.
Zimmerman returned to All-Region form, striking out four and walking none. He entered the game with a 0-3 record and an 11.12 ERA in five road starts (22.2 IP), a far cry from his 8-3 record and five saves in a school-record 75 innings pitched last season.
The SJU “defense” committed a total of five errors. Back-to-back errors in the top of the sixth put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Zimmerman proceeded to record a strikeout and two consecutive unassisted outs at first to end the inning. Another error in the seventh placed a Cardinal on second base with two outs, but Zimmerman got Luke Larson to fly out to left for the final out.
Zimmerman seemed to have started a pitching trend, as the Johnnies swept Augsburg (2-0 in 10 innings, 4-0) on April 23 to improve to 15-8 and 9-3 in the MIAC and post a 1.16 ERA (.155 opponent batting average) for the week. SJU, which plays host to Hamline April 26, has won six straight games and eight of its last nine.
