Wayne Cavadi | NCAA.com | March 17, 2019 East Carolina baseball's Jake Kuchmaner throws the Pirates' first perfect game in program history East Carolina Athletics Share East Carolina baseball’s Jake Kuchmaner made program history on Sunday. The sophomore lefty threw the Pirates' first perfect game, shutting down 27 straight Maryland hitters in the 3-0 victory. HISTORY FOR JAKE KUCHMANER! He tosses the first perfect game in school history! pic.twitter.com/0FZalU1FGR — ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 17, 2019 Kuchmaner throwing the perfect game may not be all that surprising. The southpaw started his run of dominance two starts back, coming within one strike of East Carolina’s first no-hitter in 14 years. That day, he shut down the Ole Miss bats for 8.2 innings, until he walked his second-to-last batter on a full count, allowing the Rebels' Thomas Dillard to break up the bid with a single to right. RED-HOT PITCHERS: 5 college baseball hurlers you don't want to face right now This past Tuesday, Kuchmaner one-hit Duke over 5.2 innings. He was a little wild, for him at least, walking three batters. That’s uncharacteristic for Kuchmaner who has just two walks over his other four appearances this season. Kuchmaner baffled Maryland right off the bat, needing less than 10 pitches to get a couple of ground outs and a pop out in the first inning. He fell behind a few hitters on the day but faced only four full counts in his nine innings of work, needing 103 pitches to get through the Maryland lineup three times without a base runner. COLLEGE BASEBALL RANKINGS: Vandy still on top as newcomers highlight the latest poll First baseman Alec Burleson had the big play in the ninth, saving Kuchmaner’s quest for perfection on a day where the fielders made everything look easy. Kuchmaner struck out eight batters in the game, five of which were swinging, including Kody Milton for the final out. 27⬆️ 27⬇️ #Perfection @sportscenter @ESPN @ESPNU #sctop10 @NCAACWS @jakekuchmaner pic.twitter.com/4eO7TkdGMn — ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) March 17, 2019 The win gives the Pirates a much-needed sweep as they head into conference play this coming weekend against UCF. Perfection. @ECUBaseball @jakekuchmaner pic.twitter.com/8VYycMMWL8 — Corey Gloor (@CoreyGloor) March 17, 2019 2021 American Athletic softball preview: UCF, USF ready to battle for conference crown With two Florida teams, UCF and South Florida, expected to lead the American Athletic Conference (AAC), which teams could play spoiler? READ MORE 2021 American Athletic baseball preview: Tulane, others chasing East Carolina Few teams were as disappointed to see the 2020 campaign come to an end as the top of the American Athletic Conference early last season. UCF, East Carolina, Tulane and Wichita State to be exact. Now it's time to turn to 2021. READ MORE East Carolina, St. John's stun top-5 teams on a wild Wednesday night of college basketball East Carolina men's basketball beat a top-5 team for the first time ever and St. John's won at home against a top-3 team for the first time since 1966. Here's how both got it done. READ MORE