Coming into the 2023 season, Arkansas baseball fans were well aware of the value that Brady Tygart had on the pitching staff. Thanks to a dominant freshman campaign, he was selected to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year watch list and was considered one of the nation’s best closers.
Unfortunately, an elbow injury has sidelined Tygart since early March, but that bad news has opened an opportunity for another talented closer. The past three weekends, Gage Wood has provided a Tygart-esque spark to finish off games. Along with Hagen Smith and Dylan Carter, Wood has provided the Razorbacks with a go-to bullpen arm, earning saves in each of his last three appearances – each of which clinched an SEC series.
Going into last weekend’s series against Tennessee, the 6-foot, 210-pound freshman had been on the upswing in terms of quality appearances in SEC games. During the rubber match against Alabama on April 2, Wood threw the final 1 1/3 innings while facing the minimum four batters.
The following weekend in Oxford, Wood closed out a pivotal Game 3 with a three-inning save, striking out four while giving up only one run.
Continuing his hot streak, Wood was given the keys to finish Saturday night’s contest in front of a capacity crowd at Baum-Walker Stadium against Tennessee. To earn the series win, Wood closed out the game with another three-inning save, this time in relief of Will McEntire’s quality start. He finished off the Vols with six strikeouts and one earned run with Arkansas football great Darren McFadden in attendance.
At Batesville High School, Wood was more accustomed to starting games than finishing them. After his third save in as many tries, though, he admitted in a postgame interview on the UA radio broadcast that he’s grown fond of coming into contests from the bullpen.
“I love coming out of the pen (and) 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. “I love that kind of situation now. At first it wasn’t my best thing. 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.”
Gage Wood: Pride of Batesville
The ability to perform well under the bright lights is nothing new to Gage Wood. Addison Rayford, Batesville High’s assistant baseball coach, recalls a scene during his junior season in the state tournament.
“He performed outstandingly as a junior against Benton,” Rayford told Best of Arkansas Sports. “He came into the dugout long before the end of the game telling the team we just needed one run. He was that confident of the job he could do. He threw a no-hitter and struck out 17 batters that game.”
The drive to excel extended to the weight room, too. Price Holmes, a former Razorback football player and Batesville’s strength and conditioning coach, recalls occasionally needing to dial Wood back a few notches to ensure he wasn’t going to hurt himself.
Wood’s desire to get better, faster and stronger in part stems from the naysayers on social media, according to his mother, Chasity Gould, in a recent interview with Pig Trail Nation.
“He’s one of those I think that as long as social media is saying that he can’t do it, they’re just pushing him harder,” Gould said. “The more you tell him he can’t do it, the more he’s going to do it.”
Below is some more insight from Wood’s inner circle on the freshman phenom and his progression through his high school years:
BoAS: What stood out to you in Gage’s work ethic to perform at a high level during his high school career?
Kelly Rush (Batesville Head Coach): Really focusing on his diet, even to a point he or his mom was prepping his weekly food intake. Between that and the hard work he put into the weight room with Coach Price Holmes, he jumped to being our strongest and one of the most athletic players we’ve had at BHS (Batesville High School).
Price Holmes: He was one of those kids that can be described as ‘different.’ They just have a different aura and demeanor. Kids like Gage can laugh and have a good time, but when it came time to work, he was as locked in as anybody I’ve ever been around.
Addison Rayford: His dedication to doing work in the weight room. And his discipline. He is one of the most focused and disciplined kids I have ever worked with. From 6 a.m. workouts, to his diet, a full day of school, working hard in practice, and then driving two hours to put in work at private lessons, he did it all.
Ryan Vericker (Asst. Coach): What stood out to me about his work ethic was his consistency with it all. Man, it’s tough for a 17-, 18-year-old kid to be consistent with his meal prepping, his daily workouts and his arm care program/rituals. Doing this all while trying to be a kid and enjoy his last year of high school, but he did it all with the intent to be the best he could possibly be. You don’t see a lot of seniors in high school with that sort of discipline.
BoAS: What part of his progression most surprised you while working with him in high school?
Talan Roepcke (Asst. Coach): As a sophomore, Gage was very impressive, throwing anywhere from 83-86 (mph). That offseason he got in the weight room and jumped up six miles per hour, hitting 92 mph his junior year and turning into a complete gym rat. He transformed his body and became one of the strongest kids in the school, if not the area. By the time his senior year came around, he was hitting 94 mph, had claimed his title as (Harold Gwatney) Player of the Year in the state, and had committed to the University of Arkansas.
BoAS: Are there any stories or situations you can recall that stand out to you that could include some off the field things, other hobbies, etc. Just something(s) people wouldn’t otherwise know about Gage?
Rush: While coaching Gage and my son’s basketball team during their 4th grade year, we were playing a local team in a barn burner. One of the players on the opposing team didn’t like the way Gage was playing physically at the post position, even though he had 6 inches on Gage. He kinda got the best of Gage on one particular trip down the floor. When I called my next timeout, I got after Gage about that play, questioning him why he let that kid get the best of him? Gage responded with, “Coach Rush he bit me!” Probably one of the best comebacks a player has ever had in my 27 years of coaching. However, that is the type of thing it would take to get the best of Gage. He is a young man that will not be out worked and is tough as nails.
Roepcke: A story that stands out to me involves a 6 a.m. workout led by Coach Price Holmes. That morning’s workout was a leg workout that involved a few different variations of deadlifts and squats. Gage and teammate JT Morgan were lifting 450-500 pounds that morning. Going back and forth, lift for lift. Instead of following the workout strictly, JT decided he wanted to have some fun with Gage and continued his set and did as many reps as possible on his deadlifts and got 11 reps, instead of the six that was on the set workout plan. Gage, without hesitation, jumped right in and started repping out the same weight. They went back and forth for a few more sets, attempting to out-do each other. At the end, both physically spent, they gave each other a bro hug and continued their workout. It was a great scene that depicted the team’s work ethic and how Gage and his teammates thoroughly enjoyed that grind of growing as teammates and athletes. True “program changer.”
Rayford: This kid is not just a stand out, he is a stand up guy. My wife and I had just had our first son and that same weekend, he brought back a book, The ABCs of Baseball, for our son. He is already signing balls for kids as a first priority after the game. He has a good head on his shoulders, a good heart, he was raised right.
Future Role with Arkansas Baseball
There’s no reason to expect a slow-down from an upstart freshman who is providing gritty, courageous performances for the Razorbacks. With a fastball that now sits 92-94 mph, plus a curveball, slider and a still-developing splitter, Gage Wood is able to attack hitters multiple ways.
Classified as a “bulldog” by his high school head coach, he has carried that mentality into the SEC. Leaving the mound, he walks with a Conor McGregor-esque mojo, flashing a side smile and shaking his head on the way back to the dugout between innings, knowing the game is his to finish, and he relishes in the opportunity to bring home wins for his childhood team.
“To be a kid from small town Arkansas growing up watching the Hogs to becoming one, you could just tell it meant everything to him,” Rayford said.
Granted, Wood did struggle early on this season. In his collegiate debut, he was called on in a tie game against a top-15 TCU team and it went about as poorly as you could imagine. The first pitch of his career was hit for an RBI single and then he walked the next two batters, the second of which came with the bases loaded and brought in another run.
That was part of an up-and-down start to Wood’s career in which he flashed potential while also showing his age with inconsistent play. Over his first nine appearances, Wood was officially charged with only two earned runs on three in 5 2/3 innings, but issued 10 free passes – seven walks and three HBP.
“He just seemed a little nervous the first couple, three times out, which is probably normal,” Dave Van Horn said after Game 2 vs Tennessee. “He had a couple disappointing outings a few weeks back and he just said I’m done with that.”
Van Horn, stating he believes he has now “turned the corner,” played his cards right with Wood’s development in knowing how much of an asset he would be down the stretch. Putting his freshman in tight spots at the beginning of the season is paying dividends as the significance of games ratchets up.
Wood has primed himself for a key role going forward, even with Tygart nearing a return. Adding Tygart – who could pitch again by the end of the month – back into the mix with Wood, Smith, Carter, and Cody Adcock would only bolster a strong, yet thin Arkansas bullpen.
Other Omaha hopefuls can tout similar depth, but the Razorbacks can say something nobody else can.
What Darren McFadden once notoriously stated now speaks for the Diamond Hog fanbase as well: “We got that Wood right here!”:
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