Tuesday, April 17, 2007

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 17, 2007) - A day after receiving Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week honors, freshman Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) etched her name into the ETSU record books as she became the first pitcher in school history to toss a no-hitter Tuesday night. Hardy retired 18 of the 19 batters she faced, and the Bucs cruised past Virginia Intermont 8-0 at White Top Creek Park.

With the win, ETSU ended its two-game slide and improved its record to 23-22, while Virginia Intermont fell to 19-8 overall.

The Bucs kicked things off with three runs in the first thanks to four consecutive hits from Katy Jett (Talbot, Tenn.), Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.), Mary Catherine Vercoe (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and Amanda Haverman (Kirkwood, Mo.). Jett began the hit parade with a single up the middle and scored on Hackworth's RBI doubled to right center. ETSU continued to find the gaps as Vercoe singled, and Haverman then drove in two runs with her single to right, giving the Bucs an early 3-0 lead. The Bucs plated another run in the second when Briana Knight's (Brier, Wash.) RBI single scored Marissa Hardy from second.

Hardy, making only her second collegiate start, cruised right along as she retired the first 13 Lady Cobra batters she faced, until Celia Henline became the only base runner to reach, when Cheniece Cason (Moreno Valley, Calif.) had trouble fielding a grounder at short. The error did not affect Hardy in the circle, because settled right back into her groove and retired the next five batters.

After allowing four runs on five hits through the first two innings, Henline entered in relief and retired 12 straight ETSU batters; however, fielding blunders haunted the Lady Cobras in the sixth. Caitlin Zyskowski's (Grand Rapids, Mich.) three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning put ETSU up 8-0, which ended the game with the mercy rule. The Lady Cobras could have sent the Bucs down in order, but two errors prolonged the inning, giving Zyskowski the chance to end the game early. Jett scored the first run of the inning when Vercoe reached on an error by Lindsay Smith at first.

Hardy was near perfect Tuesday night as she did not issue a walk and posted a season-high eight strikeouts. The Rocklin, Calif. native, improved her record to 4-0, and extended her consecutive scoreless streak to 11.2 IP. During this streak, Hardy has fanned 16 batters and scattered only two hits.

The Bucs will now have a quick turnaround as they face Radford on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Dedmon Center Field. For live stats of the Wednesday's game please visit www.ruhighlanders.com.