May 11, 1978: Rocker Robert Pollard pitches first no-hitter in Wright State history

The opener of a season-ending doubleheader between Wright State University and Indiana Central University in 1978 ended up being a notable moment in both baseball and rock music lore, thanks to an outstanding outing by a Wright State pitcher later known as a prolific, critically acclaimed songwriter and performer.

With Indianapolis’s Indiana Central already bound for the NCAA Regionals,1 the Raiders of Wright State entered May 11 – the final day of the regular season – needing a single win to qualify for the postseason. Having qualified for the previous three NCAA tournaments, the Raiders, whose campus was in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, had a relatively disappointing record of 15-13, with two ties. Wright State had been ranked as high as number 8 in the country in Division II during the 1977 campaign, so a record hovering around .500 was a step back for the senior-filled team.2 Indiana Central entered the game with a record of 19-9.

On a cloudy and unusually warm and breezy Thursday afternoon,3 Ron Nischwitz, in his fourth season as Wright State’s head coach after a four-season major-league career as a left-handed pitcher with the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians,4 gave the ball to a tall junior righty named Robert Pollard to start the first game. His opponent on the mound for Indiana Central was John Ehram.5

Pollard entered with a disappointing record of 0-3 but had mostly been the victim of poor run support throughout the season.6 A three-sport star athlete at Dayton’s Northridge High, which inducted him into its athletics Hall of Fame in 2010,7 he chose to stay close to home by enrolling at Wright State. He was seeking not only his first win of the season, but also of his collegiate career.

Throughout the year, Pollard had struggled with his control, and the start of this game was no exception. He walked the bases loaded of Coach Donald Hecklinski’s Greyhounds in the top of the first inning but was able to battle out of the inning unscathed.8 He was afforded a quick lead in the bottom of the inning, when first baseman Kent Stuck led off with a walk and stole second base. Team Most Valuable Player Barry Rowland9 followed with a bunt single, which led to Stuck scoring on a throwing error by ICU third baseman Jim Wernke.10

The Raiders gave Pollard more breathing room in the second inning as they plated four runs on the strength of four hits and a second Greyhounds error. Both Stuck and left fielder Kevin Newnam blasted triples into the outfield gaps during the frame.11

Indiana Central mounted one final major threat in the top of the fourth inning, as Pollard once again struggled to find the plate. The Greyhounds loaded the bases with one out, but Stuck made an outstanding defensive play on a line-drive rocket by ICU’s Rusty Goodpaster, earning a force out at second. While a run scored on the play, cutting Wright State’s lead to 5-1, the potential big inning was under control.12

Wright State added an additional four runs in the bottom of the fourth, led by center fielder Rowland’s two-run triple on a 2-and-0 pitch. Rowland later scored on a balk, with an additional run added on ICU’s third error of the afternoon.13

At that point, Pollard took control of the game, throwing with the precision of a scientist. He said afterward: “When I reached the fifth I really wanted that first season victory. … This is the best I’ve thrown all season. I had some control problems, but the wind was blowing very strongly. I felt I got stronger as the game progressed.”14

Pollard’s control challenges that hindered him in the early stages of the ballgame were now fully under wraps. He motored away through the final three innings, retiring the last 10 batters he faced. Pollard struck out ICU’s Joe Gaynor to complete the first no-hitter in the eight-season history of Wright State University’s baseball program.15 While his teammates smothered him in hugs, Pollard was unaware of his accomplishment.

“If I had known I was in the process of throwing a no-hitter, I could never have done it,” said Pollard. “My teammates helped me by not mentioning to me how close I was. I guess they didn’t want to put any pressure on me. I’m glad they didn’t because I thought I’d lost the no-hitter in the fourth.”16

While the nightcap of the doubleheader proved to be a pricklier game for the Raiders (a 7-0 defeat), Pollard’s effort clinched a spot in the NCAA Regionals, where Wright State was eventually eliminated by Eastern Illinois by a score of 3-2. Pollard was once again a tough-luck loser in the final game for WSU, finishing the campaign with a record of 1-4 and an earned-run average of 2.98.17 He received a postseason award as the team’s most improved player.18

Pollard graduated from Wright State in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in integrated business education, but his baseball career was over.19 After working for several years as a schoolteacher, he was eventually known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation, fronting the highly influential rock band Guided By Voices. He is credited with having written nearly 3,000 songs that are registered with Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).20 In 2006 Paste magazine declared him to be the 78th-greatest living songwriter, finishing ahead of the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Patti Smith, and Nick Cave.21 Rolling Stone ranked Guided By Voices’ 1994 breakthrough Bee Thousand at number 79 on its list of top albums of the 1990s, besting Tom Petty, Marilyn Manson, and The Smashing Pumpkins.22

While music was ultimately the driving force of Pollard’s life, he continued to develop his niche at the intersection of athletics and art. His legend as a touring musician includes a basketball game involving Guided By Voices, rap trio the Beastie Boys, and Billy Corgan of alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins during the 1994 Lollapalooza tour.23 In 2010 Pollard provided the film score for 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King, a documentary on Pete Rose.24

As of 2025, Pollard remained active with Guided By Voices, who celebrated their 40th year as a band in 2023 – but on that afternoon in 1978, he delivered a masterpiece on the ballfield, rather than on stage or in the recording studio.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photos courtesy of Wright State University Athletic Communications Department.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information.

Notes

1 Indiana Central University became known as the University of Indianapolis in 1986. Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, “ICU Becomes U. of Indianapolis,” Indianapolis Star, May 18, 1986: 1.

2 Wright State Baseball Media Guide 1979, Wright State University: 4.

3 Vandalia, Ohio, Weather History (May 11, 1978), Weather Underground, accessed April 17, 2024, https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/oh/vandalia/KDAY/date/1978-5-11.

4 Nischwitz, a Dayton native, coached Wright State from 1975 through 2004.

5  Jeff Keener, “Raiders Settle for Split,” Daily Guardian (Wright State University), May 12, 1978: 8.

6 Wright State Baseball Media Guide 1979.

7 Mickey Zezzo, “Northridge launches HOF,” Dayton Daily News, April 21, 2010: 6.

8 Keener, “Raiders Settle for Split.”

9 “Five Spring Sports Wrapup [sic] Season,” The Wright Stater, July/August 1978: 11. Unlike the Daily Guardian, which was and is a student newspaper, The Wright Stater was published by the university.

10 Keener, “Raiders Settle for Split.”

11 “Raiders Settle for Split.”

12 “Raiders Settle for Split.”

13 “Raiders Settle for Split.”

14 Jeff Keener, “Pollard Throws No-Hitter; Makes WSU History,” Daily Guardian, May 12, 1978: 1.

15 Keener, “Pollard Throws No-Hitter.”

16 “Pollard Throws No-Hitter.”

17 Wright State Baseball Media Guide 1979.

18 “Five Spring Sports Wrapup [sic] Season.”

19 Wright State News Team, “Wright State Alum Robert Pollard’s 1978 No-Hitter in the News Again,” Wright State University, January 30, 2014, https://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2014/01/30/wsu-alum-robert-pollards-1978-no-hitter-in-the-news-again/.

20 Based on a search of the BMI Songview database conducted in February 2024. Songview, accessed April 17, 2024, https://repertoire.bmi.com.

21 “Paste’s 100 Best Living Songwriters: The List,” Pastemagazine.com, June 8, 2006, https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/pastes-100-best-living-songwriters-the-list.

22 “100 Best Albums of the ’90s: From Moby to Nirvana, the Records That Defined a Decade,” RollingStone.com, October 4, 2019, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-90s-152425/.

23 Daniel Dodd, “Robert Pollard Talks College No-Hitter,” ESPN.com, January 31, 2014, https://www.espn.com/blog/music/post/_/id/6648/robert-pollard-talks-college-no-hitter.

24 Jason Gargano, “The Crowning of a Cincinnati Son: New Documentary Celebrates the Playing Career of Pete Rose,” CityBeat.com, October 20, 2010, https://www.citybeat.com/arts/the-crowning-of-a-cincinnati-son-12220819.