OMAHA, Neb. — 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.”
Arkansas (49-14) plays another elimination game Tuesday night against the loser 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 its 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.
“The dude was electric tonight,” Hogart said.
Wood 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, a projected first-round pick in next month's MLB amateur draft, went to three-ball counts just twice, and 83 of his 119 pitches were strikes.
“I think Gage Wood made himself some money today. Holy cow,” Racers coach Dan Skirka said.
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 Feb. 23 start against Michigan and didn’t return until April 18 against Texas A&M, a total of 54 days. He went into Monday's game having thrown just 28 2/3 innings this season.
He threw a career-long six innings and struck out a career-high 13 against Creighton in a June 1 regional game against Creighton, then went 3 1/3 innings in a super regional win over Tennessee on June 8.
Wood now joins Ehrler and Wixson in CWS lore. Ehrler’s no-hitter came in Texas’ 7-0 win over Tufts on June 19, 1950, and Wixson’s came in a 7-0 victory over North Carolina on June 15, 1960.
“I think for him to do that and just be able to catch the last ball, give him a big hug, it was awesome,” catcher Ryder Helfrick said. “I think everybody was really fired up for him. The main thing is we’re still here and we’re still playing.”
Helfrick immediately gave the ball to Wood after catching the last pitch. Asked what he did with it, 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 (9-3) 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.
