Arkansas' no-hitter from the booth: Nine words of greatness

Behind the microphone of Gage Wood's date with destiny

Arkansas Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood (14) celebrates with infielder Gabe Fraser (6) after throwing a no hitter against the Murray State Racers at Charles Schwab Field. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A broadcaster’s voice is linked to the fabric of sporting moments. Their words serve as an accompaniment to the prestige and the weight of the situation. Arkansas baseball has had its fair share of moments.

Brady Toops’ grand slam in the Super Regional in 2004, Brett Eibner’s game-tying home run in 2009 both have stood the test of time in Arkansas folklore. But those were just moments that will resonate within the confines of Fayetteville and wherever diehard Arkansas fans have dispersed themselves across the land.

The Gage Wood no-hitter at the College World Series against Murray State will reach far beyond Arkansas. It’s the only no-hitter in CWS history with a TV broadcast and will undoubtedly be played every year on repeat when it's time to return to Omaha. Whatever footage is left of Jim Wixson’s no-hitter in 1960 is definitely without commentary.

“Swing and a miss,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Monaco said. “Greatness from Gage. A no-hitter!”

A NO-HITTER AND MCWS-RECORD 19 STRIKEOUTS FOR GAGE WOOD!

What a performance for the Arkansas pitcher 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QC4E7r1Nrl

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 16, 2025

Followed by 39 seconds of silence. Nothing more than the natural sounds of jubilation mixed with the agonizing looks of despair.

The quartet of Monaco, Chris Burke, Ben McDonald (analysts) and Dani Wexelman (sideline) will forever be linked as the first TV broadcast to call a no-hitter in the CWS. 

What a no-hitter at the Men’s College World Series looks like in the @ESPN booth.

A pleasure to sit beside @ChrisBurke02 and @realbenmcdonald pic.twitter.com/Z8o0zjG81m

— Mike Monaco (@MikeMonaco_) June 16, 2025

Like every signature moment, those nine words were a product of many hours of preparation and maybe even a conversation of premonition with an SEC coach.

Weeks before Wood even threw a pitch, the seed of a masterful performance was planted in an unlikely place. Burke is a regular amongst the SEC national broadcast crew and has seen Wood pitch both in the regular season and Super Regional against Tennessee. 

Burke was on assignment elsewhere when the comment caught him off-guard. 

“He's just saying for one night.” Burke was told by an SEC coach. The only peer that I have for [Wood] was [Paul] Skenes and Hagen Smith.”

Burke could scarcely believe what he was hearing. At the time, Wood was nowhere to be found on the top of draft boards and making just his third appearance back from the shoulder impingement injury that sidelined him for most of the season.

“ I had never seen them put together like what I would call dominant,” Burke said about Wood prior to the no-hitter. “You saw flashes of it, but I never saw like five shutout innings with nine Ks.”

Arkansas was a storyline heading into the matchup with Murray State; all teams that make it to Omaha deserve their flowers, but Murray State was the feel-good story of the event. They were the four-seed that made it way further than anyone expected, ready to tame one of the ultimate giants of the sport.

Monaco used that storyline as part of his open.

“Standard fare. David vs. Goliath.”

By about the third inning, it was becoming increasingly clear, that the story would not be about some crazy unforeseen upset, but rather one of sheer dominance. Monaco would utter some prophetic words. 

“I sat there and was just thinking to myself [after the third inning],” Monaco said.  “I said out loud, ‘This could be really interesting for him.’ I remember writing down in my book. The time that I said it. We had that conversation in the booth, and we were having it on the headset as well. I just checked my scorebook. I wrote down 1:54 PM local time.”

What allowed Monaco to make such an audacious claim, just once through the order?

“You never know how it's gonna play out,” Monaco said. Six more innings that anyone would need to finish that off. It just looked so overpowering and the fastball looked that good in particular, but then the breaking ball as well was really good. The sheer power and dominance of the fastball just made you think this could really be something special.” 

How about this for having a feel for the game? @MikeMonaco_ at 1:53 CT after the third inning 👀 #MCWS https://t.co/QmHgrf1tt0 pic.twitter.com/DBdSiRtxfd

— Colin Bradley (@CR7bradley) June 16, 2025

Burke has been a bit of a no-hitter magnet in 2025. Most broadcasters go an entire career without calling one. The Wood no-hitter was the second one in three months. Although, admittedly, the first was nowhere as cool as Wood’s. It was a seven-inning combined no-hitter in the regular season that ended in a run-rule. He also called a no-hitter in 2015, an 83-pitch performance from Texas A&M’s Kyle Simonds with just four strikeouts, a very different flavor to the 19-strikeout performance from Wood.

He’s also had his fair share of flirtations with a no-hitter as a player. He was part of a combined no-hitter in college at Tennessee in 2000 and has been on both sides of the coin throughout his professional career.

“ It's impossible not to be aware when somebody's doing it the way Gage Wood was doing it,” Burke said. “Just blowing the doors off of his opponent. The strike-out heavy, no-hitter is impossible to ignore because you're seeing the dominance. By the time you look up in the fifth, you're like, wait, you know, nobody's gotten a hit or nobody's gotten on base.”

While the tension built between the commercial breaks, the broadcasters are playing the same game as all the viewers. Who stands a chance? Does he have enough pitches?

The judgment of a no-hitter call comes in the ninth inning. Monaco had never called a no-hitter in his career outside of the Little League World Series. No offense to any exuberant 12-year-old pitchers, but it doesn’t carry the same weight. 

Monaco and the rest of the crew had to deal with something else. Arkansas was only up 3-0, the actual result of the game was far from a formality, and only became more chaotic when a leadoff hit-by-pitch was erased when the batter was deemed to have intentionally leaned into the pitch.

But with two gone in the ninth, Jonathan Hogart, Murray State’s best hitter, came up to the plate, it was 97-mile an hour fastball that blew by on 1-2. Monaco said his nine words and let the moment breathe.

“There's nothing else that I can say that is gonna be more resonant with a viewer than watching the pictures and hearing the natural sounds of the celebration in that moment,” Monaco said.

After the 39 seconds of blissful natural silence, there would be plenty to add. Wood’s relationship with his friend from the same hometown, Connor Cunningham. It was Burke who pointed it out after the fact, although he admits he couldn’t quite register what was happening.

“ I'm just taking in the moment as an observer,” Burke said. As an observer, it was very out of the ordinary for Gage Wood to go to the opposing dugout. I'm hitting our truck. Hey man, he's walking over to their dugout.  I wasn't thinking in the moment that that was his training buddy from back home. I'm like, what is this dude going to do?”

Of course, the epilogue to this story is one that Razorback fans already know all too well. The no-hitter didn’t pave the path to a miracle run to the school’s first national title. Burke was on the call just a few days later when it all came tumbling down against LSU in the national semifinal. 

“As a broadcaster you just were kind of left with your jaw open,” Burke said. “You just couldn't quite believe the series of events.”

He, like many others, thinks that there is an air of inevitability to a national title. If it’s meant to happen in 2026, there’s a good chance Burke, McDonald and Monaco will be behind the mic to call it all again.

You can watch the full broadcast below: