Arkansas’ Gage Wood pitched the third no-hitter in College World Series history and first in 65 years on Monday, striking out a record 19 and never letting Murray State come close to getting a hit in the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory.
Wood joined Jim Ehrler of Texas in 1950 and Jim Wixson of Oklahoma State in 1960 as the only pitchers to throw CWS no-hitters, and his defense was never really challenged as he dominated a Racers team that was making its first Omaha appearance.
The junior right-hander, who set the CWS record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, was subdued in the aftermath.
“The only special thing was I didn’t want to go home. That’s it,” he said. “We’re not going home. We get to play tomorrow night. But it’s pretty cool.”
A NO-HITTER AND MCWS-RECORD 19 STRIKEOUTS FOR GAGE WOOD!What a performance for the Arkansas pitcher 🔥pic.twitter.com/QC4E7r1Nrl
Arkansas (49-14) play another elimination game Tuesday night against the winner of Monday night’s game between LSU and UCLA.
Murray State (44-17), only the fourth No 4 regional seed since 1999 to reach Omaha, went 0-2 in their first appearance.
Wood’s bid for a perfect game ended in the eighth when his 2-2 breaking ball hit Dom Decker in his back foot.
“When I hit the guy in the foot, I knew I screwed up,” said Wood, who got a foul out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, then looked skyward and gave a primal scream and did a couple of high steps as he headed to the dugout.
The Arkansas faithful behind the first-base dugout did a brief “Woo Pig Sooie!” chant as Wood warmed up for the ninth.
Wood (4-1) hit pinch-hitter Nico Bermeo in the back of his left elbow with a fastball to start the ninth. Bermeo initially was awarded first base, but Arkansas challenged the call, arguing Bermeo moved his elbow into the pitch. The call was overturned and Bermeo was out.
Wood struck out Connor Cunningham and Jonathan Hogart to finish the game. He was mobbed by teammates, with the celebration moving from behind the mound to the area between second and third base.
“Gage was just executing pitch after pitch, getting ahead in the count and elevating his fastball in and out. What a great job,” coach Dave Van Horn said. “The few plays we had to make behind him – maybe nine, eight? – just glad we made all those plays.”
Wood went to three-ball counts just twice, and 83 of his 119 pitches were strikes.
The closest Murray State came to breaking up Wood’s no-hitter was Carson Garner’s hot grounder that pulled first baseman Reese Robinett to his left. Robinett snagged the ball and touched the bag for the last out of the seventh inning.
Wood showed early signs that this could be a special day. He had excellent command of his signature four-seam fastball, breaking ball and changeup. Of his first 20 fastballs, 19 were strikes, and he fanned nine of the first 12 batters he faced – seven in a row from the third to fifth innings.
Wood has gone from closer as a freshman to middle reliever as a sophomore to weekend starter as a junior. He injured his right shoulder throwing a warmup pitch in his 23 February start against Michigan and didn’t return until 18 April against Texas A&M, a total of 54 days.
He threw a career-long six innings and struck out a career-high 13 against Creighton in a 1 June regional game, then went three and one third innings in a super regional win over Tennessee on 8 June.
Wood now joins Ehrler and Wixson in CWS lore. Ehrler’s no-hitter came in Texas’ 7-0 win over Tufts on 19 June 1950, and Wixson’s came in a 7-0 victory over North Carolina on 15 June 1960.
Asked what he did with the game ball, Wood said, “I gave it to my dad and said happy late Father’s Day.”
The Razorbacks broke open the game after Murray State’s Graham Kelham relieved Isaac Silva to start the seventh. SEC player of the year Wehiwa Aloy doubled in a run and another scored when right fielder Dustin Mercer tried to make a shoestring catch on Logan Maxwell’s shallow fly and the ball got under his glove.
Silva kept his team close in his six innings, with Charles Davalan’s third-inning RBI single producing the only run against him.
Silva allowed six hits, walked two and struck out seven. He repeatedly got out of trouble, holding the Razorbacks to 2-for-10 hitting with runners in scoring position and stranding two runners in the third, fifth and sixth.