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Reinhardt's Marbut Tosses Perfect Game
by Jason Hanes - RU Sports Information Director
WALESKA, Ga. - It took Blake Marbut 59 pitches to paint a masterpiece
the likes of which has never been seen in Reinhardt's baseball
history.
The junior lefty threw the first perfect game and the first no-
hitter in RU history as the Eagles defeated Union in game one
of an Appalachian Athletic Conference doubleheader, 3-0, at
Ken White Field. In the nightcap, the Eagles (15-5, 2-0 AAC)
would complete the sweep of the day with a 1-0 win in eight innings.
Marbut was dominant throughout the day on the hill. He never had a 3-ball count to any of the 21 batters he faced. The most pitches he threw to one batter was seven. He had one inning where he only needed five pitches and another where he needed just six. Even more impressively, all of the pitches were called by his battery mate behind the plate, Cameron Eison. "I was on the same page with Cam," Marbut said. "We've got a good trust. He trusts me on my pitches and I trusted what he was calling."
"We like to throw fast balls to get ahead early in the count," Eison said. "When it got to two strikes, we'd throw change-ups, then to keep batters off his fastball early in the count we'd mix in some breaking pitches. He was definitely on and had all of his pitches working."
The other seven players on the diamond also made big plays defensively for the Eagles. Daniel Rodriguez snared a line drive to start the fourth inning. O'Neal would make a sliding catch in the fifth to keep Marbut's perfect game bid intact. "My defense had my back the whole game," Marbut said. "They made some incredible plays behind me, and it wouldn't have been possible without them."
"It was kind of a fantasy thing," Eison said. "Everybody's making awesome plays. Having that feeling to know that whatever pitch you call, your pitcher is going to execute. It's a great feeling."
Two years ago in Marbut's freshman campaign, the Winder native took a no-hitter into the seventh against Truett-McConnell before losing it on the first batter in the top of the seventh. A superstitious player already, Marbut started to feel the pressure as the game went on. "About the fourth inning when I realized what was going on is about when guys stopped talking to me after I came back in, I had been close a couple of times and it had gotten away from me," Marbut said. "I definitely felt a little more pressure near the end because I knew it was a chance to do something special."
Marbut would get the leadoff man on a ground out to start the seventh. After going to a 2-2 count on the second batter, Marbut was able to get a ground out to short for the second out. Two pitches later, a fly ball to Jacob Cagle in right meant Marbut had a perfect game.
"This is something that these guys are going to be able to remember for the rest of their lives," said RU head coach Kevin Howard. "When they come back for reunions or for alumni games, this is something everybody on this team is going to be able to talk about."
NAIA