Gage Wood said he had one thing on his mind after tossing a strike for the final out of a historic College World Series no-hitter, which led Arkansas past Murray State and extended his season: “We’re not going home.”
Wood secured just the third no-hitter in the history of the College Baseball World Series to lead the Razorbacks past the Murray State Racers on Monday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. The Razorbacks, who lost to LSU on Saturday, needed a win to stay in contention in the double-elimination tournament.
Wood fired 119 pitches, including 83 strikes, en route to the first College Baseball World Series no-hitter since Jim Wixson threw one for Oklahoma State in 1960. Wood logged 19 strikeouts — a record for a nine-inning Men’s College World Series game. He ended the 3-0 victory with five-consecutive punch-outs and retired the final batter with a 97-mph fastball.
“The only special thing was — I didn’t want to go home,” Wood, who mixed in fastballs, cutters, curveballs and changeups for the historic effort, told reporters. “That’s it.”
Wood mostly leaned on his fastball and curveball to retire the Racers with strikeouts, fly outs and grounders early on. He then went on a seven-consecutive strikeouts from the third through fifth innings.
Outfielder Charles Davalan gave the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the third. The Razorbacks added two more runs in the seventh, including one off a double from shortstop Wehiwa Aloy.
Wood lost his perfect game bid when he hit Racers second baseman Dominic Decker with a pitch to start the eighth. First baseman Luke Mistone fouled out in the next exchange. Wood then retired the final five Racers batters with strikeouts.
“I shouldn’t have hit that guy,” Wood said. “That’s it, that’s all I’ve got to say.”
Texas’ Jim Ehrler threw the first no-hitter in College Baseball World Series in a 1960 win over Tufts. Wixson’s 1960 no-no came in a win over North Carolina.
“We’re not going home,” Wood said. “We get to play [Tuesday] night. But it was pretty cool.”
The Razorbacks will look to avoid elimination again when they face LSU or UCLA at 7 p.m. EDT Tuesday in Omaha. LSU and UCLA are set to face off at 11 a.m. Tuesday in a resumption of their matchup from Monday, which was suspended because of rain and lightning. LSU led 5-3 through three innings.
Wood said he did not expect to be available to return to the mound until the weekend.
