Baseball can be strange sometimes. America’s national pastime is a game of numbers, and today the Yale baseball team saw a number in its hit column no team ever wants to see: a big, fat goose egg. Yet despite being no-hit, the Bulldogs got a one where it matters most: the win column.

Yale (6–5, 0–0 Ivy) somehow survived a combined no-hitter behind the arms of UMass–Lowell pitchers Raz Bracha and Garrett Cole, winning its home-opener in a most bizarre fashion by a final tally of 1–0.

The Bulldogs’ breakthrough came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Green Campbell ’15 was hit by a Bracha pitch to start the “rally.” Captain and shortstop Cale Hanson ’14 then reached on an error, placing men on first and second for the Elis.

One wild pitch and a Brent Lawson ’16 sacrifice squeeze later, the Bulldogs had all the scoring they would need to spoil the sixth no-hitter in UMass Lowell (8–3, 2–0 America East) history.

“[The win is] a testament to our pitching and defense,” pitcher Chasen Ford ’17 said. “We take advantage of mistakes by other teams and do what we can with it.”

Ford (1–2) provided two shutout innings of relief for Yale’s winning pitcher, Chris Lanham ’16 (3–0). Lanham continued his impressive start to this year’s campaign with five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts.

Chris Moates ’16 came in to shut the door on the River Hawks and pick up his first save of the season, tossing two scoreless innings while also punching out four to cap a dominant performance from the Bulldogs’ pitching staff.

The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow afternoon on the road against Hartford (6–7, 0–0 America East). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.