The first weekend of the College World Series has packed a lot of excitement, and Monday's game between Arkansas and Murray State featured one of the best pitching performances that has ever happened in Omaha. Gage Wood got the start on the rubber for the Razorbacks, and he was dealing for the entirety of the game. Wood pitched seven perfect innings and came out in the eighth inning, but he hit a Murray State player, surrendering his first baserunner of the game. However, Wood did pull off a no-hitter.
Gage Wood wasn't able to complete the perfect game as he did end up hitting two batters. However, he still threw seven perfect innings, which is the most by a pitcher in the College World Series since 1999.
“Gage Wood's perfect-game bid ends in the top of the 8th inning, marking the longest perfect-game bid in the College World Series since 1999,” Arkansas baseball said in a post.
Wood's incredible performance helped the Arkansas baseball team earn a 3-0 win over Murray State. Wood ended up throwing 119 pitches and he struck out 19 batters. His no-hitter is the first one that has been thrown in the College World Series since 1970. It was a historic day for Wood.
Article Continues BelowDespite the incredible pitching performance by Wood, the Arkansas baseball team had a tough time pulling away in this game as the score was just 1-0 until the seventh inning. The Razorbacks scored one run in the third inning to take the lead, but they weren't able to plate another run until the seventh. Arkansas tacked on two more, and it ended up winning the game 3-0.
With the way that Gage Wood was pitching on Monday, the one run that Arkansas scored in the third inning would've been enough. Still, getting those two insurance runs in the seventh inning was huge as it took some of the pressure off.
Now, Murray State is done, and Arkansas will live to see another day as the quest for a national championship continues. Arkansas lost its first game of the College World Series against LSU, so this game against Murray State was an elimination game. The Racers had an incredible run, but their season is over.
Gage Wood and the Arkansas baseball team are moving on as they will play again on Tuesday. UCLA and LSU both won their first game of the weekend, so the loser will take on Arkansas, and the winner will be sitting pretty with a 2-0 record.