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| Colton Book carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Saturday. | PHOTO: Leah Catlyn |
The redshirt junior transfer has been nothing short of spectacular to begin his Hawks career, allowing just two hits over 13 scoreless innings with 23 strikeouts in two starts.
And to put an exclamation point on his Saturday masterpiece? The final out came against his younger brother, Nolan. Yes, his brother.
Book retired the first batter of the seventh before surrendering his lone hit of the afternoon, but two batters later, he induced a groundout—from his own bloodline—to close out the win. The performance was nearly historic, with his 14 strikeouts just one shy of the program’s single-game record of 15, set by Rich Bogle and later matched by Jordan Carter—though both of those came in nine-inning games.
It was the perfect bounce-back for Saint Joseph’s after a gut-wrenching loss in the opener. The Hawks carried a 7-3 lead into the ninth, only to watch Mount St. Mary’s erupt for seven runs, capped by a three-run walk-off homer, stealing a 10-7 victory.
But any lingering frustration was erased once Book took the mound. He overpowered Mount St. Mary’s from the start, facing just one batter above the minimum and making hitters look helpless. His season line now reads like something out of a video game: two starts, 13 innings, two hits, two walks, 23 strikeouts. That’s 23 punchouts in 42 batters faced—more than half of the hitters who stepped in against him have walked back to the dugout shaking their heads.
It was a rollercoaster day for the Hawks, but one thing is clear: they’ve got an ace.
And to put an exclamation point on his Saturday masterpiece? The final out came against his younger brother, Nolan. Yes, his brother.
Book retired the first batter of the seventh before surrendering his lone hit of the afternoon, but two batters later, he induced a groundout—from his own bloodline—to close out the win. The performance was nearly historic, with his 14 strikeouts just one shy of the program’s single-game record of 15, set by Rich Bogle and later matched by Jordan Carter—though both of those came in nine-inning games.
It was the perfect bounce-back for Saint Joseph’s after a gut-wrenching loss in the opener. The Hawks carried a 7-3 lead into the ninth, only to watch Mount St. Mary’s erupt for seven runs, capped by a three-run walk-off homer, stealing a 10-7 victory.
But any lingering frustration was erased once Book took the mound. He overpowered Mount St. Mary’s from the start, facing just one batter above the minimum and making hitters look helpless. His season line now reads like something out of a video game: two starts, 13 innings, two hits, two walks, 23 strikeouts. That’s 23 punchouts in 42 batters faced—more than half of the hitters who stepped in against him have walked back to the dugout shaking their heads.
It was a rollercoaster day for the Hawks, but one thing is clear: they’ve got an ace.
