“Besides his no-hit game, Clarkson held Providence down to two hits on May 22 ….” Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, December 30, 1885, p3
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1ST USE. 1898. “Several no-hit games have been pitched this season” (Fort Wayne [Ind.] News, June 11; Benjamin Zimmer).
