High School

Batesville High School pride! Gage Wood throws first College World Series no-hitter in 65 years

Smallish Arkansas high school claims two alums in historic game, including star pitcher who strikes out 19 in 3-0 win for Arkansas over Murray State

Mitch Stephens

Jun 16, 2025; Omaha, Neb, USA; 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. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images
Jun 16, 2025; Omaha, Neb, USA; 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. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Before Monday afternoon, perhaps the most notable Batesville (Ark.) athlete in its 101-year standing was NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin.

Gage Wood might have changed all that.

The 6-foot, 205-pound right-hand pitcher for the University of Arkansas just pitched just the third no-hitter in College World Series history and the first since 1960 in a 3-0 elimination-game win over Murray State.

Wood, ranked the No. 3 high school player out of Arkansas from the Class of 2022, struck out a Razorbacks' record 19 batters, including Connor Cunningham and Jonathan Hogard to finish it before being mobbed by teammates.

After that he went to the Murray State dugout and gave a hug to Cunningham, who also attended Batesville, making quite a scene for the school of roughly 1,000 students in Independence County that opened in 1924. The school and city of 11,000 residents is located 80 minutes northeast of state capital Little Rock.

Though the moment was historic and national for Wood, who came into the game with a 3-1 record and ERA of 5.01, he deflected and gave nothing but love to Cunningham, a two-time all-state player at Batesville, during a live postgame interview with ESPN. Not only do the two train together, they occasionally play golf together as well.

“I work out with that guy in the offseason,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t expect to see him here. Like, I get to play against him? He got there a year late from when I graduated. But I work out with that guy in the offseason. He’s a grinder, he works his tail off every day and he’s my scramble buddy too. I look forward to working with him every offseason moving forward.

“He’s going to get drafted one day. He’s a solid shortstop, freshman of the year for them. So, of course I’m going to go over there and talk to my guy. I’m on Cloud 9 and their season ended but I’m going to go tell him I love him, good job, and keep going.”

Cunningham, a shortstop, is ranked the No. 50 prospect in in the upcoming MLB.com draft. A transfer before his junior year at Batesville, Cunningham, a 2024 high school graduate, and Wood (2022) were never teammates.

Batesville coach Tony Roepcke told wholehogsports.com before the game there was "a huge palpable buzz that's going on around town, and we're so excited for it. I know my assistant coaches who coached them both are just so overjoyed. I guarantee you their eyes are going to be glued to the screen (Monday."

Imagine what they experienced watching Wood take a perfect game into the eight inning before hitting Dominic Decker with a pitch to lead off the frame.

He went on to set a CWS record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game.

"Gage was just executing pitch after pitch, getting ahead in the count and elevating his fastball in and out," Arkansas coach Dave Van Hor said. "What a great job."

Wood, named the 2022 Arkansas Player of the Year by Prep Baseball Report, said he wasn't nearly focused on the no-no.

"The only special thing was I didn't want to go home," Wood told reporters afterward. "That's it. We're not going home. We get to play tomorrow night."

When he eventually makes it home to Batesville, he'll surely be celebrated. His father already is. When Wood asked what he did with the game ball, he told reporters: "I gave it to my dad and said 'Happy late Father's Day.' "

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Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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