Men's College World Series: Arkansas' Gage Wood throws no-hitter to eliminate Murray State, LSU advances over UCLA
Day 4 of the Men's College World Series kicked off with a David-and-Goliath matchup as No. 3 Arkansas defeated unseeded Murray State with some history made by Razorbacks right-hander Gage Wood.
UCLA and LSU met in a presumably more even clash in the second half of Monday's doubleheader. The two teams provided plenty of thunder in the first inning before weather delayed their game in the fourth.
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Play resumed Tuesday with LSU leading 5-3. It ended 9-5, with LSU coming out on top. With the win, LSU moves on. They'll play the winner of Arkansas and UCLA, which play Tuesday night.
Arkansas 3, Murray State 0
Although the Razorbacks' bats were relatively quiet, nine nearly perfect innings from junior starting pitcher Gage Wood secured the 3-0 Arkansas win.
Wood was electric, holding off Murray State with just the third no-hitter in MCWS history and the first since 1960. He notched a career-high 19 strikeouts on 119 pitches, completing a game for the first time in his college career.
Wood put up seven perfect innings before he hit a batter with a pitch in the eighth. But he stayed strong, notching five more strikeouts to secure the historic no-hitter.
Both offenses were quiet at first, with Wood and Racers starting pitcher Isaac Silva both putting up strong performances. But in the third inning, Arkansas finally got on the board. First baseman Reese Robinett kicked things off with a double into the outfield gap and reached home after a pair of singles.
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For most of the game, Silva held off one of the best offenses in the country. He notched seven strikeouts in six innings, allowing six hits and just the one run. But after Silva exited in the seventh inning, replaced by Graham Kelham, the Razorbacks got things going again. Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy hit a key double to knock in one RBI, and then outfielder Logan Maxwell brought in another run off a Murray State error.
After the Racers closed out the final two innings without conceding any more runs, it came down to three more outs for Wood to make history.
In the first at-bat of the ninth, pinch hitter Nico Bermeo was hit by another pitch from Wood — but the umpires deemed Bermeo had moved into the pitch and was out. Wood then dug deep to record two more strikeouts to finish the game.
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"I shouldn't have hit that guy," Wood told ESPN on the postgame broadcast, referring to the hit-by-pitch in the eighth that sullied his bid for a perfect game.
Murray State put up a very good fight, but Wood's heroics brought the Racers' run in the MCWS to an end. Next up, the Razorbacks will face the loser of LSU vs. UCLA, which will be played Tuesday night.
LIVE: LSU 9, UCLA 5 in the ninth inning
The Bruins knocked LSU starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson back right away, putting the first five batters on base. A Roman Martin double drove in Roch Cholowsky for the game's first run. That was followed by a run-scoring infield single from AJ Salgado and an RBI groundout by Payton Brennan.
The Tigers answered back decisively in the bottom of the first against UCLA starter Landon Stump. Ethan Frey, Steven Milam and Jake Brown hit consecutive one-out singles, resulting in one run scored. Jared Jones then hit one over the right-center-field fence for a three-run homer and a 4-3 LSU lead.
The Tigers added another run in the third after Stump walked Frey and Milam to begin the inning. He recovered to strike out Brown and Jones, giving UCLA a chance to keep those runners stranded, but Luis Hernandez hit an RBI single to make it 5-3.
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The two teams took the field for the fourth inning, but then umpires suspended the game due to rain. After a nearly three-hour weather delay, the decision was made to delay the game until 11 a.m. ET Tuesday.
Play resumed Tuesday, with LSU picking up where it left off Monday night. After Casan Evans struck out two batters in the top of the fourth inning, LSU started piling on the runs in the bottom of the frame.
After two quick outs, LSU put two men on base with a single and a walk. Steven Milam then added an RBI single.
That was followed up by a Jake Brown single, which drove in another run. LSU extended its lead to 7-3 during the inning.
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Evans returned for the fifth inning, and struck out another batter before keeping UCLA off the board again. LSU went quietly in the bottom of the inning, keeping it 7-3.
UCLA threatened briefly in the top of the sixth, but a nifty double play from Milam at short ended that threat.
LSU added another run in the bottom of the seventh. With Jared Jones on third, Daniel Dickenson blooped a single to extend the team's lead.
The eighth inning proved to be a problem for LSU. After a quick out, UCLA managed to load the bases thanks to a single, hit by pitch and a walk. A groundout and an inside single brought in two runs, cutting LSU's lead to 8-5.
With two men on, and two outs, Cashel Duggar walked to load the bases again. Chase Shores was called in by LSU to put out the rally. He induced a groundout on the first pitch he threw, keeping the score 8-5.
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LSU snagged another run in the bottom of the eighth, making it 9-5 entering the final inning. Three groundouts later, and LSU won the contest.
The win pushes them forward. With the loss, UCLA will take on Arkansas on Tuesday evening to see which team takes on LSU in the next round.
LSU fans have to wait another six innings to see if their team will advance in the MCWS, but the rain delay allowed Tigers die-hards an opportunity to leave the competition even further behind in the Rocco's Jell-O Shot Challenge.
Earlier Monday, LSU alumni Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne updated the board, to the delight of Tigers fans packed into Rocco's Pizza and Cantina.
Do any of the other seven fan bases have a chance to catch LSU's tally of 17,746 as of Monday night? None of the other schools has even reached 10,000 Jell-O shots. Underdog Murray State has, however, maintained a respectable showing at 7,293.
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The record of 68,888, set by LSU in 2023, is still within reach. More weather delays could help, though none of the fans at Charles Schwab Field, viewers on ESPN, players or coaches on either of the affected teams would likely care for that.
What will that board look like on Tuesday after three games are played?
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