Cam Bagwell needed all of one month in the program and 80 pitches to become an indelible part of UNC Wilmington baseball history. 

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The freshman right-hander's sixth career appearance delivered on the second perfect game ever at UNCW, and the first in the Seahawks' near half-century as an NCAA Div. I member. 

In his March 23 start against Coastal Athletic Association counterpart Campbell, Bagwell joined Jim Sanders in the exclusive club. Raleigh's News & Observer detailed the scene in its April 19, 1968 edition, as the California University of Pennsylvania lead-off batter in the final half-inning took Sanders to the ultimate hitter's count, 3-0. Sanders then delivered three straight strikes. 

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.

Cam Bagwell pitches the first perfect game in Seahawk history since 1968!#SeahawkBaseball pic.twitter.com/8gkvdkSfCk

— UNCW Baseball (@UNCWBaseball) March 23, 2025

Bagwell similarly saw his final inning begin with Campbell's lead-off hitter, Darnell Parker Jr., battle to three balls. The nine-pitch at-bat was an aberration in what was otherwise as efficient a starting pitching performance as you'll ever see, perfect game or otherwise. 

After Bagwell had forced Parker to fly out, the next two Camels went down in four and five pitches. Bagwell's 80th pitch got Lukas Schramm swinging, the freshman's third strikeout thrown on the afternoon. 

"It was pretty surreal," Bagwell said of recording the final out and the ensuing celebration with his UNCW teammates on the mound. As the squad rallied around Bagwell, it was the most he'd heard from his fellow Seahawks in several innings. 

"After about the fourth inning, I don't think anybody said a word to me unless I talked to them [first]," Bagwell said. 

It was through that fourth inning that the 6-foot-5 Pineville, North Carolina, native began to sense this was no ordinary appearance, he explained. Others in the UNCW dugout apparently felt likewise. 

Baseball tradition dictates not to do anything that might spoil a pitcher's pursuit of rare milestones. And nothing is rarer than the perfect game. 

"In general, nobody really talks to the starting pitcher much," Bagwell said, explaining that the tradition of isolating a teammate amid a no-hitter or perfect game isn't much of a deviation from the norm. "Still, I like to think the juju of what you talk about isn't going to change anything." 

Any genuine superstitions about negatively influencing a landmark performance are justified, however, given all that can happen to deny a perfect game that's mostly or completely out of the pitcher's hands: The umpire's strike zone tightens, the first-base ump leans runner on a bang-bang play, a fielder misjudges a ball. 

To that end, a potential perfect game magnifies all that is inherent to any baseball game: the many microscopic details that come together to shape an at-bat, an inning, a game, a series, and a season. 

"Baseball is going to give you ups and downs," Bagwell said. "Obviously, you really can't do any better than a perfect game, so you have to be ready for some disappointment next week. You have to have fun and enjoy the success, because baseball will also give you hardships." 

A UNCW team projected to lead the CAA in 2025 has experienced the ups and downs firsthand, with highs of beating a No. 4-ranked Georgia bunch and lows like dropping an extra-inning heartbreaker to third-ranked North Carolina. 

Likewise, Bagwell's perfect game ended a CAA-opening series that host Campbell actually took, two games to one. Bagwell said emphasis throughout the contest, even as each past without a Camel reaching base, was just on getting that all-important first conference win. 

 No matter how dominant or not Bagwell is, his next time on the mound won't match his March 23 start. But if his perfect game is the catalyst to UNCW winning a conference championship and returning to the NCAA Tournament, it can hardly be deemed a letdown. 

How many perfect games have been thrown in NCAA Div. I baseball history? 

With Cam Bagwell now on the list, there have been 58 perfect games in the 68 years since official NCAA records have tracked the milestone. Dick Reitz of Maryland is credited with the first in 1959. 

Remarkably, Bagwell's is the second perfect game this season. Portland University's Ryan Rembisz was perfect against Seattle University on February Feb. 25. 

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