FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 3 overall seed Arkansas Razorbacks (46-13) stole the show with their bats en route to clinching their first Super Regional berth since 2022 after finishing 3-0 in the Fayetteville Regional at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Considered by many national pundits to be the most complete team in the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas totaled 26 runs in wins over North Dakota State and Creighton twice. The Razorbacks smashed 10 home runs to increase their single-season program record for long balls to 120, and counting.
While opposing pitchers were sent home with reoccurring nightmares, the Razorback staff put on a memorable performance that was capped with a career night from junior righty Gage Wood in Sunday's 8-3 triumph over Creighton.
Save for a fourth inning sequence that included a hit by pitch and a three-run homer in consecutive at-bats after surrendering a two-out single, the Batesville native was nearly flawless. Wood struck out a career-high 13 batters while surrendering three hits over six innings, also a career high, with no walks.
"It was awesome, and even better wearing this uniform and advancing," said Wood, who retired 11 of his first 12 batters faced. "It was a long day. I spent a lot of it just waiting around for the game to start.
"I wanted to go out there and throw the first punch to help my team win the ball game."
Wood's exceptional outing came on the heels of junior lefty Zach Root posting one of his best outings of the season in Saturday's 12-1 rout of Creighton, scattering three hits over six scoreless innings with only one walk and seven strikeouts.
Wood was well-rested having not pitched since the final regular season series against Tennessee on May 17.
"He had not pitched in a while, so he was fresh and we knew he was going to have really good stuff," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. "All we were really trying to do was throw the first strike and get ahead of them."
The Razorback bullpen once again proved it is arguably the nation's best, recording 18 strikeouts while allowing just one run. Pitching the final three innings in relief of Wood in Sunday's win, Gabe Gaeckle retired nine of the final 11 Creighton batters to shut the door.
"We felt like once we got through the sixth that if we brought Gabe in and he was on with a four or five run lead then he could finish the game, and he did," Van Horn said. "Our pitching staff pounded the zone three days in a row and gave us an opportunity to get off of the field."
Arkansas pitchers got more than enough run support with the aforementioned 10 home runs; three from Ryder Helfrick, two each from SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy, Logan Maxwell, and Cam Kozeal, plus 9-hole Justin Thomas Jr. knocked his ninth of the year.
The win over Creighton was also the final game for longtime Bluejays head coach Ed Servais, who won 721 games over his 22-year tenure with the team. Servais and Van Horn go back to Van Horn's time at his previous institution.
"I have known Ed Servais since I coached at Nebraska, I think he maybe came to Creighton my second year," Van Horn recalled. "His teams were so hard to beat, they did not make mistakes and it was not a lot of fun playing them. I have a lot of respect for him and we got everything that I thought we were going to get from Creighton."
With No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 2 Texas getting eliminated on Sunday, Arkansas is now the highest seed left standing in the field.
One of the regionals that is still yet to be decided is Knoxville, which is down to host No. 14 overall seed Tennessee and Wake Forrest. First pitch for that matchup is set for Monday at 5 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPN2.
