Gage Wood just finished off one of the best pitching performances ever as the projected Cubs draft pick tossed the first College World Series no-hitter since 1960. Wood struck out 19 batters on Monday, when he led Arkansas to a 3-0 win over Murray State.
Wood was a HBP in the eighth inning away from throwing a perfect game.
The right-hander is now one of only three pitchers to have ever thrown a no-hitter in College World Series history. Wood joined Jim Ehrler of Texas in 1950 and Jim Wixson of Oklahoma State in 1960.
At the end of May, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel released a mock draft for the 2025 MLB Draft and with the 17th overall pick in the first round the expert had the Cubs selecting Wood out of Arkansas.
Via ESPN.
Wood is a hot name because of his huge stuff, but he has started only 10 games in college. Some scouts think that if he can make a number of starts for Arkansas this postseason, he could have a rise like Cade Horton, who went No. 7 in 2022 out of Oklahoma and is now in the big leagues for the Cubs. This projection is a little speculative, but I don’t think Wood would get out of the 20s if the draft were held today. He is a more refined version of another Arkansas pitcher the Cubs took in the second round in 2023, Jaxon Wiggins.
Wood is ranked No. 21 in ESPN’s top-150 draft rankings.
So far in 2025, Wood has started nine games. He has a 5.02 ERA in 28.2 innings, but that high earned run average can be deceiving when you’re dealing with these new-aged bats and the competition around the SEC. Wood has 50 strikeouts to only seven walks for Arkansas this year.
There’s a pretty good chance that Wood will continue to climb up draft boards, especially after this historic performance. The once projected first-round pick for the Cubs could end up going in the top-10 if Arkansas goes deeper in the College World Series, which could give Wood a few more opportunities to shine on the big stage and increase his draft stock.
