Kentucky State University pitcher Joe Crisp and Clark Atlanta University hurler, Anthony Nettles, SIAC rivals, both squared off in a classic pitching duel. Two pitchers on opposite sides of the mound recorded 21 total strikeouts between each other.
Crisp threw his first career no-hitter as the Thorobreds shut out the Panthers 3-0 in the game one scheduled doubleheader.
Crisp hails from Shelbyville, Ky, worked eight innings giving up no hits and no earned runs. The ace of the staff fanned 11 Panther batters and walked four, allowing only one runner to make it as far as second base. With each of the four walks he allowed to Clark Atlanta, Crisp had 3-2 pitching counts on the batters.
Nettles’ game didn’t receive the notoriety of a no-hitter, nonetheless it was impressive in many ways. His performance on the mound was stifling. The Morrow, Georgia native threw 7.1 innings of shutout ball against Kentucky State. Three times in the game with less than two outs, Nettles stranded runners on third base and he managed to get out of the inning without a run crossing the plate.
Nettles allowed no runs through 7.1 innings on seven hits and striking out eleven. Unfortunately, Kentucky State starter Crisp was a little sharper picking up his second win of the season at Bill Evans Field in Atlanta.
Crisp and Nettles dueled in classic fashion allowing only seven hits between the two. They pitched dueling gems. Both carried no runs into the seventh inning. Both stranded runners, none would cross home plate.
The game was scheduled to go seven innings. With the score tied at 0-0, the game went into extra innings.
What started as a pitcher’s duel between Crisp and Nettles changed in the top of the eighth inning when Kentucky State broke through on a Clark Atlanta fielding miscue that proved costly, allowing a base runner, back to back doubles plated two runs, followed by a run scoring single, KSU would extend the lead to 3-0 for the win.
It was all the run support Crisp needed as he tossed his first collegiate no-hitter.