Any no-hitter is special, but the no-no feat pulled off by the Elon University Phoenix softball and baseball teams Saturday goes beyond that description.
At 2:02 ET p.m. on Saturday, Elon’s Anna Dew completed a six-inning perfect game against Charleston Southern. As the junior celebrated with her teammates, the Phoenix baseball team started its game versus Fairfield at 2:03 p.m. ET.
Over the course of the next 2 1/2 hours, pitchers Aidan Stieglitz, Mike Staiano and RJ Latkowski combined for their own no-hitter.
That’s right: Two no-hitters (one of which was perfect) were thrown by the same Division I university on the same day, mere hours apart.
It was the fourth perfecto for Elon softball all-time. Elon baseball’s last no-no prior to Saturday came on May 25, 2017. Why is that important? The Phoenix actually lost that game versus the College of Charleston despite getting 3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball out of the bullpen from now-Mariners star right-hander George Kirby. And the winning pitcher of that game was current Twins hurler Bailey Ober.
What Elon accomplished Saturday evokes memories of June 29, 1990, when the A’s Dave Stewart and the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela each pitched a no-hitter on the same day.
But seeing two no-hitters thrown on the same day by the same D-I university has a uniqueness all its own.