Arkansas’ Gage Wood pitched the third no-hitter in College World Series history and first in 65 years on Monday, striking out a record 19 and never letting Murray State come close to getting a hit in the Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory in Omaha, Neb.

Wood joined Jim Ehrler of Texas in 1950 and Jim Wixson of Oklahoma State in 1960 as the only pitchers to throw CWS no-hitters, and his defense was never really challenged as he dominated a Racers team that was making its first Omaha appearance.

The junior right-hander, who set the CWS record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, was subdued in the aftermath.

“The only special thing was I didn’t want to go home. That’s it,” he said. “We’re not going home. We get to play tomorrow night. But it’s pretty cool.”

Arkansas (49-14) plays another elimination game tonight against the loser of Monday’s late game between LSU and UCLA, which was delayed by weather and ended after this newspaper went to press.

Murray State (44-17), only the fourth No. 4 regional seed since 1999 to reach Omaha, went 0-2 in its first appearance.

Wood’s bid for a perfect game ended in the eighth when his 2-2 breaking ball hit Dom Decker in his back foot.

“When I hit the guy in the foot, I knew I screwed up,” said Wood, who got a foul out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, then looked skyward and gave a primal scream and did a couple of high steps as he headed to the dugout.

Wood (4-1) hit pinch-hitter Nico Bermeo in the back of his left elbow with a fastball to start the ninth. Bermeo initially was awarded first base, but Arkansas challenged the call, arguing Bermeo moved his elbow into the pitch. The call was overturned and Bermeo was out.

Wood struck out Connor Cunningham and Jonathan Hogart to finish the game.

Wood was mobbed by teammates, with the celebration moving from behind the mound to the area between second and third base.

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

Wood, a projected first-round pick in next month’s MLB amateur draft, went to three-ball counts just twice, and 83 of his 119 pitches were strikes.

The closest Murray State came to breaking up Wood’s no-hitter was Carson Garner’s hot grounder that pulled first baseman Reese Robinett to his left. Robinett snagged the ball and touched the bag for the last out of the seventh inning.

Ehrler’s no-hitter came in Texas’ 7-0 win over Tufts on June 19, 1950, and Wixson’s came in a 7-0 victory over North Carolina on June 15, 1960.

Soccer

Pedro Neto scored in the first half and Enzo Fernández in the 79th minute to give Chelsea a 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC in Group D’s Club World Cup opener on Monday. Chelsea put pressure on LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris early in the match and Neto scored in the 34th minute, picking up a pass from Nicolas Jackson and cutting onto his left foot for a near-post finish.

There were 22,137 fans in attendance at the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium, many of them backing LAFC. The Black and Gold had positive sparks of energy, but struggled to find any real opportunities in front of goal.

A Spanish court has convicted four people who hung an effigy of Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior off a highway bridge two years ago, the league said on Monday. The defendants were found guilty of hate crimes after hanging a black figure, with Vinícius’ name on it, in the Spanish capital before a Copa del Rey match against rival Atletico Madrid in January 2023. Along with the effigy that was hung by its neck, there was a banner with the words “Madrid hates Real.”

A defendant who disseminated images of the act online was sentenced to 15 months in prison for a hate crime, and seven months for threats. The other three defendants were each sentenced to seven months in prison for hate crimes and seven months for threats. The four must complete a training program on equal treatment and non-discrimination to have their prison sentences suspended.

Tennis

British wild card Dan Evans upset world No. 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-2 in London on Monday at Queen’s Club. Other first-round winners included fourth-seeded Holger Rune, eighth-seeded Jakub Mensik, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Mackenzie McDonald. The top two seeds are Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz, who won Stuttgart on Sunday for his fourth title on grass.

WNBA

The Las Vegas Aces announced that reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson will miss her third consecutive game in the concussion protocol today when the team faces the Lynx in Minnesota.

Wilson has not played since she exited in the third quarter of the Aces’ game last Wednesday against the Sparks after she was struck in the head by Los Angeles forward Dearica Hamby. Wilson was placed in the concussion protocol Friday after being evaluated.

The Aces lost 97-89 to Los Angeles and in the two ensuing games without Wilson, beat Dallas 88-84 on Friday, and lost 76-70 to Phoenix on Sunday.

Seattle signed free agent forward Mackenzie Holmes to their active roster. Holmes, 24, fills an open spot that was created Saturday when center Li Yueru was traded to Dallas for two future draft picks.

amateur golf

Stanford’s Paula Martín Sampedro became the second Cardinal ever to win The Women’s Amateur, defeating Farah O’Keefe of the University of Texas in the final round of match play on Sunday in Nairn, Scotland to win the 122nd running of the tournament.