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Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arkansas' Gage Wood pitches first College World Series no-hitter in 65 years
Jun 16, 2025; Omaha, Neb, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood (14) pitches against the Murray State Racers during the first inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Arkansas' Gage Wood pitches first College World Series no-hitter in 65 years originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia 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. Advertisement The junior right-hander set the CWS record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. His bid for a perfect game ended in the eighth when his 2-2 breaking ball hit Dom Decker in his back foot. Wood, who got a foul out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, 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. Advertisement Arkansas (49-14) plays 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 its first appearance. 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. Advertisement 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 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. 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. Advertisement 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.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Made himself some money': What Murray State said about Gage Wood's no-hitter for Arkansas baseball
OMAHA, Neb. — The Cinderella story of Murray State came to an end Monday afternoon. The only four seed to reach the final stage of the NCAA Tournament was eliminated by a historic pitching performance as Arkansas baseball starter Gage Wood tossed the third no-hitter in College World Series history. The Razorbacks' righty silenced an offense that was flying high. The Racers were averaging 9.3 runs per game in the postseason entering Monday, scoring double digits against Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Duke on the road to Omaha. Advertisement But the explosive lineup was held in check by Wood. The junior righty skyrocketed up draft boards in recent weeks, and Murray State coach Dan Skirka got a first-hand look at what MLB scouts are salivating over with Wood's two-pitch dominance. "I think Gage Wood made himself some money today," Skirka said. "Holy cow. With our offense and what we've done all year to a lot of really good pitchers, I'll take the blame; I didn't prepare these guys for what we saw today because it was special." The base of Wood's lofty projections is a fastball that lives in the upper 90s, but Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn credited Wood's curveball as the no-hitter difference maker. The Murray State hitters agreed with Van Horn. Advertisement "I think today Gage got us in between — don't get me wrong, phenomenal pitcher — but the thing that he could do was he could throw 97 at the top of the zone and then run breaking balls," Murray State third baseman Carson Garner said. Equally impressive was Wood's stamina and control. The righty from Batesville threw 119 pitches with 83 for strikes. Murray State right fielder Dustin Mercer pointed out that Wood was able to throw a 98 mph fastball in the final inning, and the Arkansas starter hit all of his spots. "The strikes weren't just over the heart," Murray State leadoff hitter Jonathan Hogart said. "He was executing — we have a ball system — he was executing the corners, like it was 1 and a 7. He was living there to me." Advertisement The final line was nine innings, 19 strikeouts, zero walks and one hit by pitch that spoiled a perfect game. Unless Arkansas wins three more games and reaches the championship series, Wood couldn't have asked for a better final start in an Arkansas uniform. Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@ or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter. This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: What Murray State said about Gage Wood's no-hitter for Arkansas baseball
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
With loss in College World Series, Dave Van Horn and Arkansas facing another postseason heartbreak
OMAHA, NE ― Dave Van Horn has built Arkansas into one of college baseball's best powerhouses. Under Van Horn, the Razorbacks have made the NCAA tournament 21 times with eight College World Series appearances. Van Horn himself has been named SEC Coach of the Year three times. But there's one accolade still missing: a national championship. And the route to that feat got a lot harder with Arkansas' 4-1 loss to LSU on June 14 in its Men's College World Series opener at Charles Schwab Field to drop to the losers' bracket. The Razorbacks will face Murray State in an elimination game June 16. Advertisement Arkansas is one of the best programs nationally to never win a national title. Entering 2025, its 11 trips to Omaha without a title were fourth in the country after Florida State (24), North Carolina (12) and Clemson (12). But Clemson hasn't made it to Omaha since 2010, and Florida State and North Carolina have been in and out of relevance. Arkansas has made five of the last 10 College World Series; meanwhile, in that span, Florida State has gone three times, North Carolina twice and Clemson not at all. The Razorbacks' road to the title will be a long and difficult one. They'll need to win four games in four days to even advance to the championship series, then two of their final three should they stave off elimination. In the last 25 tournaments, 22 champions won their first game. Van Horn should be familiar with one of the teams that didn't, though — 2018 Oregon State, the team that beat Arkansas in the championship series after three Razorbacks failed to catch what would've been a championship-clinching pop-up. Advertisement Since then, the postseason has been full of heartbreak. The 2019 team went to Omaha but lost two one-run games to get eliminated. The 2021 team was the No. 1 national seed and heavy title favorite but dropped a home super regional to NC State. The 2023 and 2024 teams both lost home regionals as national seeds. Only the 2022 team — the only Arkansas team since 2016 to not host a regional — did well in Omaha, making it to the semifinals. "We need to move on from this one and get over it and not think too far down the road," Van Horn said. "We've just got to take care of business on Monday. We need to play good Monday because if we don't there's no Tuesday. ... These guys, they've come back and won games. They've done some great things this year. So that's what I told them. We've got a bullpen full of pitchers. We've got a bunch of hitters that can hit. They didn't have a good night. We need to move on and get ready for Monday." Van Horn will face some tricky decisions with his pitching. He said the likely starter for the elimination game was Gage Wood. After that, he could turn to Landon Beidelschies, Aiden Jimenez or Colin Fisher. Starter Zach Root, who lasted just 1⅔ innings and threw 38 pitches, could return as soon as Tuesday. But relief ace Gabe Gaeckle, who pitched a career-high six innings out of the bullpen, likely won't be available until at least the semifinals, if Arkansas makes it that far. WINNERS AND LOSERS: College World Series winners and losers: The best and worst from Day 2 in Omaha Advertisement In theory, if anyone has the pitching and offensive depth to make a run through the losers' bracket, it's the Razorbacks. Arkansas ranks top-15 nationally in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), home runs and ERA. While Root has been a solid arm, the Razorbacks have thrived all season without a true ace to the level of LSU's Kade Anderson, who threw seven innings of one-run ball in the opener. Instead, Arkansas has the sort of reliable relief options that every team longs for. And its starting lineup for the opener featured seven players with double-digit home runs. "No one here is worried," outfielder Charles Davalan said. "We'll try to be ready by Monday and play hard." The Razorbacks have won four games in four or fewer days once this season, when they swept Washington State on opening weekend. But the College World Series is an entirely different challenge, and it's one Van Horn will need to solve for the first time to finally get the monkey off his back. Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@ or on X @aria_gerson. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arkansas, Dave Van Horn start College World Series with loss
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How Arkansas baseball, Murray State reacted to Gage Wood's College World Series no-hitter
OMAHA, NE ― Everyone in the Arkansas dugout knew to give the silent treatment − except the batboy. Gage Wood was in the midst of arguably the best-pitched game in College World Series history, a 19-strikeout no-hitter where the lone batter who reached base was hit by a pitch. It was the first no-hitter in Omaha since 1960 and only the third ever as Arkansas won, 3-0, against Murray State. Advertisement "No one talked about it in the dugout except for G-Baby, our batboy," outfielder Charles Davalan said. " ... He came back after at the eighth and we went one, two, three. G-Baby said, 'Is Gage going out for the no-no?'" Wood knew that he had a no-hitter going. He had a perfect game that ended with the eighth-inning hit batter, a moment about which he said, "I screwed it over." But coming off the mound, he had only one thought. "We're not going home," Wood said. June 16: Arkansas Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood (14) pitches against the Murray State Racers at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. Wood recorded an incredible 19 strikeouts in the game. Wood's gem came in an elimination game after the Razorbacks lost their CWS opener to LSU. With the win, Arkansas will face LSU or UCLA on June 17 for a spot in the semifinals. Advertisement Catcher Ryder Helfrick called his own game, something that's unusual in college. In most cases, a coach will call pitches. But Helfrick got to call his own with an assist from what coach Dave Van Horn called "educated suggestions." The primary set-up pitch for Wood was his fastball, which touched as high as 98 mph with what Murray State players described as a rising effect. "It was really special, I'd say," Helfrick said. "I think for him to do that and just be able to catch the last ball, give him a big hug. It was awesome. I think everybody was really fired up for him. The main thing is we're still here and we're still playing." The Racers made their name as the scrappy underdogs, a No. 4 seed that ran through the Oxford Regional against Ole Miss and Georgia Tech and the Durham Super Regional against Duke to reach Omaha for the first time ever. Murray State has a strong offense, but those players simply couldn't touch Wood, who threw 83 strikes in 119 pitches. Advertisement "The strikes weren't just over the heart," Racers leadoff hitter Jonathan Hogart said. " ... I got maybe got one or two pitches over the plate the entire day." After the game, Wood exchanged hugs with Murray State players, including one, Conner Cunningham, who attended the same high school. Wood, considered a potential first-round pick in next month's MLB draft, wasn't a sure thing to be here. He suffered an injury in February and missed nearly two months. Van Horn admitted he hadn't known then whether Wood would be able to return this season. Even still, he had no hesitation letting Wood finish the game, even at well over 100 pitches. "There's nothing being said or talked about our dugout whatsoever," Van Horn said. "We're just going to let him roll. And, no, there was no chance he was coming out after eight. And he did a super job. So proud of him." Advertisement Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@ or on X @aria_gerson. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arkansas' Gage Wood throws no-hitter in College World Series
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arkansas' Dave Van Horn Reacts After Loss to LSU
Arkansas' Dave Van Horn Reacts After Loss to LSU originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Arkansas lost to LSU 4-1 in their first game of the 2025 College World Series. The Razorbacks are set to face Murray State on Monday at 2:00 p.m. ET in an effort to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. Advertisement Head Coach Dave Van Horn shared his thoughts after the game. 'I thought our pitching was incredible. Obviously Anderson and Shores did a tremendous job. And they finished it up with Evans in the ninth. We had a couple of chances to score some runs and we didn't. Reese hit a home run and got us kind of feeling pretty good, down 3-1. We just needed to score the next inning, but we didn't. Really it boiled down to Anderson. He didn't give us anything. He's 11-1 because he's really good,' said Van Horn. On pulling starter Zach Root early in the game. Dave: To me, it was a hard decision. I had to make a decision. Anderson looked really good. Seems like we weren't getting good swings off him. We were already down three runs. Advertisement They had, I think, Frey coming up, who's hitting over .400 against left-handers. And I just didn't feel like we could let them score anymore. I had a great pitcher in the bullpen who was hot. Yeah, it's early, but the wind's blowing in. It's going to be tough to hit it over anybody's head. Scoring a lot of runs against Anderson to me wasn't something that was going to happen. I hated to do it, but I just felt like it was the right decision. And I'll stand by it. It was the right decision. On how the team felt after falling behind 3-0. Dave: The feeling was we still have seven innings to go or actually eight because I think it was the top of the second. We had eight at-bats. So, we were still in it 3-0, not a problem. We can score three real quick. Advertisement Maybe not tonight with the way they pitched or the way the wind was blowing, but it can happen. I think we were just trying to chip away. Now you start getting into the fifth, sixth inning and you start getting concerned. And Reese hit a home run and still nobody out. That would have been big. I think we had another inning where we had the lead-off man on. He gets to second on a wild pitch and we don't score him. Thomas can't hit a ball any harder to center field but that's the breaks of the game. But the mood was confident. And it's one game. Now we put ourselves in a hole that we've got to dig ourselves out of. Advertisement On LSU starter Kade Anderson. Dave: He really just doesn't leave the ball over the middle of the plate. Even his misses are close. He missed a lot of pitches away to righties that you could tell he was a little frustrated that it was that tight. Changes speeds just enough. The first time we faced him, he struck us out more, but we hit him harder. When we hit it, we hit it hard, and we scored some runs on him. Tonight, when we hit it, we didn't hit it real hard most of the time. He's a really good pitcher, polished. I think he's going to continue to just get a lot better as he gets bigger and stronger. You can just see the projection there. On what's ahead as Arkansas looks to fight their way through the losers bracket. Advertisement Dave: Obviously we need to move on from this one and get over it and not think too far down the road. We've just got to take care of business on Monday. We need to play good Monday because if we don't there's no Tuesday. If we can get through Monday, we've got Tuesday. We've got to do the same thing. You just can't get all uptight about it. These guys, they've come back and won games. They've done some great things this year. So that's what I told them. We've got a bullpen full of pitchers. We've got a bunch of hitters that can hit. They didn't have a good night. We need to move on and get ready for Monday. Advertisement Related: Livvy Dunne Shares Revealing Swimsuit Photos Related: Angel Reese and Livvy Dunne React to Hailey Van Lith Swimsuit Photo Shoot This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 15, 2025, where it first appeared.