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Gage Wood reacts to throwing no-hitter in 2025 College World Series: 'I shouldn't have hit the guy'

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh06/16/25griffin_mcveigh
Gage Wood
Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Murray State sent 28 batters up on Monday afternoon against Arkansas‘ Gage Wood and not a single one of them recorded a hit. Wood threw just the third no-hitter in College World Series history and the first since 1960. A legendary performance from Wood was just a few inches away from being on a different level.

Wood carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before hitting Dominic Decker with a pitch to lead off the frame. That ended the bid for perfection but allowed him to continue on the no-hitter. So naturally, there was only one thing on Wood’s mind when asked about the moment in a postgame interview with ESPN.

“I shouldn’t have hit the guy,” Wood said. “That’s it, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

Of the 27 outs recorded by Wood, 19 of them were strikeouts. Rarely was Murray State able to put the ball in play. Everything about the performance screamed perfect game except the stat line himself, having one bad pitch.

But obviously, a lot of things did go right for Wood. His fastball was dominant throughout, sitting in the high 90s throughout. Murray State batters could not catch up to the heater all game, as shown with the 19 punchouts.

For a while, Wood did not even recognize what he was on track to accomplish. He told ESPN at one point, he noticed none of his pitches were coming from the stretch. Everything was from the windup due to no runners getting on base.

As the moment continued to build, ESPN showed Wood’s family. Both of his parents were in attendance, people who have supported him throughout his baseball career. Wood also took some time in the postgame interview to speak on them, plus give a special shoutout to others who helped him along the way.

“They’re everything. They sacrificed a lot of time and money and everything to take me all over the country to play baseball. I can’t thank them enough. Even my high school coaches, my high school strength coach is here right now. I wouldn’t be where I am without Bryce Holmes.”

Wood ended things by acknowledging there is still more to be done. Arkansas has another elimination game upcoming with the loser of Monday night’s LSU/UCLA bout on the other end. The Razorbacks came to Omaha to win a national championship and if they do, Wood’s no-hitter will be a massive part of the story.