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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Watch: Arkansas' Gage Wood throws first College World Series no-hitter in 65 years
June 17 (UPI) -- 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement "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.
UPI
4 days ago
- Sport
- UPI
Watch: Arkansas' Gage Wood throws first College World Series no-hitter in 65 years
June 17 (UPI) -- 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.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
No-hit loss won't erase the lifetime memories made by Murray State during its improbable run
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The stands at Charles Schwab Field were emptying, and Murray State players wanted to savor their program's first College World Series as long as they could. Never mind the Racers had just been no-hit by Arkansas' Gage Wood in a 3-0 loss that will send them home to southwestern Kentucky on Tuesday. Some of the players filled jars with infield dirt, a keepsake from their improbable journey to the city where every college baseball team wants to be in June. Some milled about with family and friends. 'One of my wife's favorite movies is 'A League of Their Own,' and they said there's no crying in baseball,' an emotional coach Dan Skirka said to open his postgame news conference with 9-year-old son Keegan on his knee. 'Well, throw that out the window. There's no way I'm making it through this right here.' The Racers were the first Missouri Valley Conference team to make the CWS since 2003 and only the fourth No. 4 regional seed to get to Omaha since the NCAA Tournament went to its current format in 1999. They swept conference regular-season and tournament championships, beat No. 10 national seed Mississippi of the SEC twice on its home field and Georgia Tech of the ACC once en route to a regional title. Then the Racers went to Duke of the ACC for super regionals and lost the opener before winning two straight to punch their ticket to Omaha. Murray State overcame early jitters in its CWS opener against UCLA, falling behind 6-0, and lost 6-4. As for their game against Arkansas, the Racers just happened to run into a pitcher who threw one of the greatest games in college baseball history — a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts, a record in a nine-inning CWS game and tied for most by a Division I pitcher this season. 'We never lost faith. Haven't all year. We're not about to start now," third baseman Carson Garner said. 'About halfway through the game, I think we realized that, 'Hey, this guy's, he's dealing, he's throwing a perfect game.' ' Murray State finished 44-17 to set a program record for wins, ending the season with only its second shutout loss. 'The wins are phenomenal. We had a lot of them,' said Jonathan Hogart, who led the Racers with 22 homers. 'You just can't match the culture we have here. I'm going to miss Coach, I'm going to miss these two (Garner and Dustin Mercer). I'm going to miss every one of these guys. Strap on the cleats to go to war with these guys was such a blessing this year, and I'll never take it for granted.' Skirka, who finished his seventh season at the Racers' coach, put together a roster made up of eight Division I transfers, 14 from junior colleges and 14 high school recruits. Skirka said no one on his team was making money from endorsements or other name, image and likeness opportunities. 'You say at the end of the year only one team's happy,' Skirka said. 'That ain't the case this year. There's definitely more than one because these guys, the run they went on, you're not going to be able to wipe the smile off their face for a really long time. That's what I told them. They're going to share this for ages and people are going to ask them about it for ages, and that's really the cool thing.'
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
No-hit loss won't erase the lifetime memories made by Murray State during its improbable run
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The stands at Charles Schwab Field were emptying, and Murray State players wanted to savor their program's first College World Series as long as they could. Never mind the Racers had just been no-hit by Arkansas' Gage Wood in a 3-0 loss that will send them home to southwestern Kentucky on Tuesday. Some of the players filled jars with infield dirt, a keepsake from their improbable journey to the city where every college baseball team wants to be in June. Some milled about with family and friends. 'One of my wife's favorite movies is 'A League of Their Own,' and they said there's no crying in baseball,' an emotional coach Dan Skirka said to open his postgame news conference with 9-year-old son Keegan on his knee. 'Well, throw that out the window. There's no way I'm making it through this right here.' The Racers were the first Missouri Valley Conference team to make the CWS since 2003 and only the fourth No. 4 regional seed to get to Omaha since the NCAA Tournament went to its current format in 1999. They swept conference regular-season and tournament championships, beat No. 10 national seed Mississippi of the SEC twice on its home field and Georgia Tech of the ACC once en route to a regional title. Then the Racers went to Duke of the ACC for super regionals and lost the opener before winning two straight to punch their ticket to Omaha. Murray State overcame early jitters in its CWS opener against UCLA, falling behind 6-0, and lost 6-4. As for their game against Arkansas, the Racers just happened to run into a pitcher who threw one of the greatest games in college baseball history — a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts, a record in a nine-inning CWS game and tied for most by a Division I pitcher this season. 'We never lost faith. Haven't all year. We're not about to start now,' third baseman Carson Garner said. 'About halfway through the game, I think we realized that, 'Hey, this guy's, he's dealing, he's throwing a perfect game.' ' Murray State finished 44-17 to set a program record for wins, ending the season with only its second shutout loss. 'The wins are phenomenal. We had a lot of them,' said Jonathan Hogart, who led the Racers with 22 homers. 'You just can't match the culture we have here. I'm going to miss Coach, I'm going to miss these two (Garner and Dustin Mercer). I'm going to miss every one of these guys. Strap on the cleats to go to war with these guys was such a blessing this year, and I'll never take it for granted.' Skirka, who finished his seventh season at the Racers' coach, put together a roster made up of eight Division I transfers, 14 from junior colleges and 14 high school recruits. Skirka said no one on his team was making money from endorsements or other name, image and likeness opportunities. 'You say at the end of the year only one team's happy,' Skirka said. 'That ain't the case this year. There's definitely more than one because these guys, the run they went on, you're not going to be able to wipe the smile off their face for a really long time. That's what I told them. They're going to share this for ages and people are going to ask them about it for ages, and that's really the cool thing.' ___ AP college sports:
Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Arkansas' Gage Wood Throws 3rd No-Hitter in CWS history and a record 19 Ks
Arkansas' Gage Wood was on track to throw the first perfect game in College World Series history, but hit a Murray State batter in the bottom of the eighth inning. He bounced back and finished off the third no-hitter in CWS history and first in 65 years on Monday, striking out a record 19 and never letting the Racers come close to getting a hit in the Razorbacks' 3-0 victory. While trying to close out the game in the ninth inning, Wood hit another Murray State batter, but it was reviewed and overturned for a "lean in", resulting in Wood's 17th strikeout of the afternoon. Despite achieving a feat only two other pitchers have completed, when Wood was asked about his emotions following the game, he responded: "I shouldn't have hit the guy… That's all I got to say." 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 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. With the victory, the three-seeded Razorbacks kept their CWS hopes alive and will play the loser of Louisiana State vs. UCLA on Tuesday. Here are the updated odds for each of the remaining teams in Omaha to win the College World Series: LSU: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)Coastal Carolina: +205 (bet $10 to win $30.50 total)Arkansas: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)UCLA: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)Oregon State: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total) Louisville: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total) The Associated Press contributed to this report. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! Get more from Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
