In a remarkable feat, Arkansas’ Gage Wood achieved only the third no-hitter in the history of the boys’ college World Series, marking the first such occurrence in 65 years.
Wood skillfully controlled the game against Murray State, leading the Razorbacks to a 3-0 win that knocked out the underdog team in Omaha on Monday. His pitching performance was dominant, as he set a College World Series record with 19 strikeouts over nine innings, and he didn’t walk a single batter while using 119 pitches.
He sealed the game by striking out Jonathan Hogart. The only blemish for Wood was getting hit on the foot by a pitch in the eighth inning.
After that, he struck out the next three batters. There was another moment in the ninth where he hit Nico Bellmeo, but a challenge reversed it to a strikeout, with the umpires ruling that Bellmeo leaned into the pitch rather than trying to avoid it.
“I probably shouldn’t have thrown at that guy,” Gage reflected in an interview with ESPN when discussing his performance, adding, “That’s it. That’s all I had to say.”
Previously, the only other no-hitters in this prestigious series were thrown by Jim Ehler of Texas in 1950 against Tufts, and Jim Wyzkson of Oklahoma against North Carolina in 1960.
Gage Wood, who is a first-round draft prospect as a junior, is now 3-1 in nine appearances this season with an ERA of 5.02 across 28.2 innings, achieving 50 strikeouts.
Murray State was the fourth four-seed to compete in the College World Series since its field expansion in 1999.
Next up, Arkansas will face the loser of the UCLA vs. LSU game on Tuesday.
