"There's a little pressure," he said. "I'm going to be upset when I give up a hit. It's been so long."

The lanky, 6-ft., 3-in. pitcher from Dix Hills, N.Y., felt some pressure last Saturday with several scouts watching. He responded with a perfect game for six and two-thirds innings of the seven inning contest against Trinity.

Bloom and Casey thought a 3-2 pitch was a strike to nail down the perfect game, but the umpire disagreed. After the walk, the next batter popped up and Bloom settled for the no-hitter, 12 strikeouts and a 13-0 victory.

Bloom fanned 17 in a 7-0, nine-inning masterpiece against Boston University April 15. MIT managed an unearned run April 6 but still lost 9-1 in seven innings on a cold, rainy day. Ten of the 21 outs were strikeouts.

"It became evident that we were overmatched," MIT Coach Fran O'Brien said. "He has excellent control. He's not afraid to throw the breaking pitch. He has great determination."

There have been some tense moments.

One batter hit a hard line drive at Tufts' second baseman. A few hitters bunted but were thrown out. Not many others have come close to a hit.

"It's not like you're sitting there with your heart in your throat wondering if they're going to get a hit," Casey said.

Bloom did slip up once. With just two days rest after his MIT victory, he pitched three innings of relief and gave up four runs and four hits. He took the loss.

But that was an aberration.

"I went out the last game and felt in total control" against Trinity, he said.