In an April 13 game against MacMurray College (Ill.), junior Dylan Dean Smith did what no Webster University pitcher had ever done before. Smith didn’t allow the MacMurray Highlanders to record a hit, thus completing the first nine-inning no-hitter in Webster history.
When Smith recorded the final out of the Gorloks’ 6-0 win over MacMurray, he wasn’t 100 percent sure that he had no-hit the Highlanders.
“I turned around and saw Brett (Buchanan), our first baseman, come in, and he’s like, ‘Hey, man, no-hitter. That’s awesome,’” Smith said. “And I was just like, ‘I really did it?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘Right on, man.’ He gave me a hug right there on the mound.
“Everyone just came in from the field and started to congratulate me. And the next thing I know, everyone on the bench is on the mound with me just kind of mobbing me.”
Smith’s bid at a perfect game was broken up in the first inning when the Webster defense committed an error. The Gorloks committed a second error in the second frame. After the second miscue, Smith retired 22 batters in a row to close out the game. Smith faced 28 hitters — one above the minimum — as his record now stands at 4-0 and his ERA at 2.50.
Smith’s no-hitter was the second of his career. He threw his first one — a seven-inning no-hitter — during his senior year at Edwards County High School (Ill.).
Smith said he first realized he was on track for a no-hitter in the sixth inning of Webster’s win over MacMurray. He tried not to think about it because “the more you think about it, obviously your chances get way higher of messing it up,” Smith said. Smith’s teammates didn’t say anything to him about the no-hitter during the game.
“After the game, a couple guys said they were asking (about the no-hitter) during the game, and everyone told them to be quiet because of what was going on,” Smith said. “But no one ever brought it up to me, or I never talked to anyone about it.”
Smith, a right-handed hurler, missed the entire 2012 season because of a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He said pitching the no-hitter a year and a half after undergoing surgery made the no-no that much more special.
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