Rob Anderson in the Creighton Sports Information office keeps ridiculously detailed stats about every sport, and perhaps more impressively, can recall almost all of those stats on demand. But he’s not infallible.
In last week’s MVC Tournament, CU hurler Brandon Koenigstein threw a no-hitter in a game shortened to 7 innings due to Creighton’s 10-run lead. It was reported both in Creighton’s official release and by various media outlets as the first complete-game no-hitter in school history. The media correctly reported on a previous no-hitter, a combined effort by Dennis Rasmussen (5.1 IP) and Joe Franco (3.2 IP) against Kansas State in 1980.
But that’s not the only no-no in school history, record book be damned. A long-time Jays fan first reported his personal recollection of a previous no-hitter that does not appear in the media guide in a post on the Bluejay Cafe. That post sparked a couple of other folks’ memories, which in turn caused CU to dig into the Omaha World-Herald Archives. Remarkably, not one but TWO no-hitters were “discovered.”
On April 28, 1970, freshman Ray Blusiewicz hurled a five-inning no-hitter to blank South Dakota, 15-0. That game was called due to the 10-run rule. Blusiewicz walked four men and faced 19 batters overall, striking out five, for his first collegiate victory.
Less than a year later on April 2, 1971, Council Bluffs native Larry LeMaster twirled a seven-inning no-hitter against Doane in a 10-0 victory played at Boys Town. LeMaster struck out 11 men, including the side in the top of the seventh inning, and allowed three walks.
These days, with the readily-available access of computerized stats you don’t often hear about two forgotten no-hitters suddenly being rediscovered. Its amazing the pitchers of those games never mentioned the lack of recognition before! Kudos to CU for doing the research, and for admitting the gap in their previous records..