Historic No Hitter for Arkansas Means the End of the Road for the MCWS Cinderella
The Razorbacks of Arkansas University held the top-ranked spot in the nation for all of one week of regular season play. After one week of glory, they fell back down in the rankings, never finding that top spot again. However, they then went on to prove just why they deserved that spot, cruising through the postseason and punching their ticket to Omaha. After a record 13 SEC teams made it into the round of 64, Arkansas was one of only two that clawed their way to a spot in Omaha for the College World Series.
Murray State’s journey was not so clear-cut. A team with a strong record all season was never ranked, most likely due to strength of schedule, made it into the round of 64 after sweeping their conference championship. Shocking the nation, this seemingly unthreatening team took down a strong Ole Miss team not once but twice and then ended the Duke Blue Devils’ season in three games. On the big stage for the first time in program history, the Racers of Murray State became June’s most perfect Cinderella story virtually overnight.
The former top team in the country and the season’s Cinderella story found themselves going toe to toe in the second elimination game of the MCWS. Both teams were hungry for a win, Arkansas to prove they were greater than just the three seed, and the Racers to continue to do more than just make history. It was a pitchers duel until the end. Gage Wood and Isaac Silva building defensive walls for their teams. Fans sat through scoreless innings after scoreless innings, hoping their team wouldn’t be the one on a plane ride home Monday night.
One run in the third inning and a strong two-run seventh inning cracked the game wide open for the Razorbacks as they took a 3-0 lead. Murray State’s offense was no match for Wood, who remained perfect through seven innings, racking up 14 Ks. The Razorback pitcher made history as he became the first pitcher to throw that many perfect innings in Omaha since before 1999. One breaking ball that got away in the bottom of the eighth robbed Wood of his perfect game, but it didn’t slow him down in the slightest.
Wood went on to throw the third no-hitter in MCWS history, and the Razorbacks fought on to survive another day. The Racers' historic postseason run ended heartbreakingly. A 3-0 no-hitter is now many of these athletes’ baseball careers will end as well. They’ll fill Powerade cups with the orange dirt of the iconic Charles Schwab Field, cry in the dugout, and take it all in one last time, because even though they didn’t win it all, at least they made history.
