Charles Davalan shares that Arkansas bat boy asked about Gage Wood no-hitter in eighth inning

There was an elephant in the room in the Arkansas dugout across the final two innings of Monday’s College World Series game against Murray State. Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood had still yet to allow a hit in the game and, because of superstition, no one was about to say anything about it.

But one young member of the team who simply couldn’t contain his excitement, accidentally putting a potential jinx out there. Outfielder Charles Davalan revealed postgame that the team’s bat boy let it slip in the eighth inning as he wondered whether Wood would stay in the game.

“No one talked about it in the dugout except for G-Baby, our bat boy,” he said. “He came back after the eighth and we went 1,2,3 and he said, ‘Is Gage going back out for the no-no?’ So he said it. But I think it was in the fifth that I knew he was gonna do it. His stuff’s so good. He’s worked really hard and I’m really proud of him. I know that everybody’s proud.”

Coach Dave Van Horn said that there was no doubt that Wood would be coming out of the game due to pitch count. Gage Wood’s intensity down the stretch saw him throw well past 95 mph on his fastball into the ninth inning.

“So close to the perfect game,” Van Horn said. “I’ll be the first to say, there was nothing being talked about or said in our dugout. We were just going to let him roll.”

Wood struck out 19 batters — an Arkansas record — and was just the third player in College World Series history to throw a no-hitter. The Razorbacks pitcher came out on a mission, carrying a perfect game into the eighth inning before hitting Dominic Decker with a pitch to lead off the frame. He expressed his frustration about that moment postgame, but it was really the only mistake one could point to from his outing on the mound.

Gage Wood’s season hasn’t been without adversity. He missed two months early in the season due to injury before returning in April. The pitcher still has 10 appearances this season, all starts, with 69 strikeouts to rank third on the team.

He certainly returned at the right time and has been a key part of the Razorbacks’ run to Omaha. His performance Monday helped stave off elimination as Arkansas advances to face the loser of a matchup between LSU and UCLA on Tuesday.