Wood locked in mentally for Diamond Hogs
When Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn walked to the mound at Globe Life Field on Feb. 18 to take the ball from Gage Wood, the Razorback skipper saw a freshman that was very nervous on a big stage.
Wood walked two of the three batters he faced in that outing during an 18-6 loss to TCU. Fast forward a few more shaky outings and just less than two months later, and Wood has emerged as a legit closer for the Diamond Hogs.
For the third straight weekend, the Batesville native earned a save in an SEC series over the weekend. The right-hander tossed three innings, allowed one run and struck out six during a 6-3 series-clinching win over the Tennessee Volunteers.
After being up and down to start the year, Wood has locked in mentally.
"I think he just mentally turned the corner," Van Horn said. "Because we saw it in the fall. We thought this guy was going to help us as a freshman. He just seemed a little nervous the first couple, three times out, which is probably normal.
"He had a couple disappointing outings a few weeks back and I think he just said ‘I’m done with that. I’m good.’ We’ve been telling him he’s good, players think he’s good and, like you said, he’s had three weekends in a row he’s helped us win games."
After back-to-back three-inning saves against Tennessee and at Ole Miss the previous weekend, plus a save in 1 1/3 innings against Alabama on April 2, Wood now has a team-high three saves on the year.
The 6-foot, 210 pound hurler said everything was working for him when he racked up a season-best six strikeouts Saturday.
"Yeah, everything was working tonight," Wood said. "I mean, I had the fastball, curveball, the slider on righties. I even flashed the splitter that I've been working on for lefties to Burke. Yeah, everything was kind of working tonight."
Ironically enough, Wood said he didn't feel like he had his best stuff during his first two innings, when he retired six of his seven batters faced.
"Those first two innings, I didn't really have my best stuff," Wood said. "As the game went on, I started finding it more. You've just got to battle through those innings when you don't have it. Once you find it, it gets a lot easier."
The freshman ran into some trouble with a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, but things got rocky with two outs. He walked Christian Scott after throwing 13 pitches, seven of which were fouled off by Scott. Wood's fourth wild pitch of the outing advanced Scott to second, but the right-hander induced a fly out to close the game down and secure the series for Arkansas.
"I love coming out of the pen getting that feeling in your heart that it’s beating fast and adrenaline is running through your veins and the crowd is on their feet," Wood said on postgame radio. "I love that kind of situation now. At first it wasn’t my best thing. Like I had to really adapt to it. But now that I feel like I’ve gotten my feet wet and been in so many situations, I like it more than starting almost."
Though he's just a freshman, Wood is already showing that he can be a difference maker for an Arkansas staff that is without three difference makers in Jaxon Wiggins (torn UCL, out for season), Koty Frank (torn lat, out for season) and Brady Tygart (UCL strain, out indefinitely).
Wood can pump in a 95 mile an hour fastball, but he's also having success with the off-speed pitches, especially his curveball, which he used often in a three-inning save at Ole Miss on April 8.
"I mean, I have I guess what you call swing-and-miss stuff, that’s what they tell me," Wood said. "Just by the analytics behind my pitches that I throw. But I couldn’t tell you the honest reason behind it. I don’t know how it works. I just throw the ball."
Outfielder Jace Bohrofen, who leads Arkansas with a 1.283 OPS this season, was sitting next to Wood when he said he has swing and miss stuff, and Bohrofen confirmed that it was a true statement.
The Diamond Hogs are sitting with a 29-7 overall record and an 11-4 record in conference play that gives them sole possession of first place in the SEC West.
Arkansas' next outing will be Tuesday evening for a 6 p.m. CT first pitch against Central Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network Plus.