Junior Joe Demers pitched the first perfect game in Washington history en route to an 8-0 win over UC Riverside on Saturday at Husky Ballpark. In the historic outing, DeMers recorded nine strikeouts and finished with only 84 total pitches. DeMers did an excellent job keeping the ball low in the strike zone as he forced 12 batters to ground out in the game. Only six of the outs came via the fly ball.
“It was awesome. Everything was working for me,” said DeMers, who last threw a perfect game in 2015 as a senior at College Park High School, one of three no-hitters for him that season. “JK (Pitching Coach Jason Kelly) and I were on the same page and the defense was great behind me, so I was just filling in the zone.”
The performance marked the fifth time ever that a Pac-12 pitcher was perfect. The last time the Huskies threw a no-hitter was in 2006 when Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone combined to achieve the feat.
Joe DeMers has now pitched two scoreless outings this season, the first coming as a no-decision in the opening series against Sacramento State. He has only allowed three hits this season in 15 innings pitched while recording 16 strikeouts so far this year.
