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FAYETTEVILLE — The night after senior Connor Noland flirted with a no-hitter, freshman Hagen Smith opened Friday’s game with three perfect innings and was even better than his veteran teammate.
Following what was statistically the worst start of his young career at Arkansas, an outing that saw him allow seven runs — six earned — in 4 1/3 innings with only one strikeout, Smith turned in his best effort of 2022 in the Razorbacks’ 4-0 series-clinching win over LSU.
“It didn’t go good for him last week at Florida and he took it personal,” head coach Dave Van Horn said. “He worked extremely hard this week. Had a great bullpen session. He was on a mission and pitched really well.”
Part of the improvement between the two starts was due to the freshman altering his schedule and preparation for the start.
“Changing my routine a lot, like pregame routine,” Smith said when asked about the modifications. “Stretching out a little more, throwing a pregame bullpen.”
Coming into the Friday night primetime matchup, LSU was the least effective offense in the conference against left-handed pitching, batting at a .222 clip. That trend continued, as the Tigers were capable of tallying only two hits off the southpaw in seven scoreless innings.
Smith was locked in from the beginning, striking out two members of the 2022 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List in Dylan Crews and Jacob Berry. After forcing a pop out in foul territory, he’d completed his first of three-consecutive 1-2-3 innings.
As per usual, Smith was operating at a whirlwind pace. He was also much more efficient in the zone, needing just 34 pitches to get nine outs and retire the Tigers’ lineup in order the first time through.
Compared to his previous outing against the Gators, Smith harnessed his entire pitch repertoire successfully and dialed his effort back a notch to keep his delivery repeatable.
“He didn’t overthrow,” Van Horn said. “He threw the ball 92, 93 miles an hour, 91, with his fastball. Then used his secondary pitches effectively. He can throw harder than that, but today he really pitched. He reared back every now and then and let it fly, but he really just spotted it up and did a nice job pitching in and out.”
After getting some run support in the bottom of the third from a solo shot by Zack Gregory and a two-run blast by Michael Turner, Smith was able to settle in and cruise to the finish line.
LSU finally got to the young hurler in the top of the fourth when Crews sent a 2-2 fastball back up the middle and into center field. Smith was unfazed, though. He went on to dispatch the Tigers’ 2-4 hitters via fly out, swinging strikeout and groundout to keep them off the scoreboard.
Smith issued a four-pitch walk to Tyler McManus to lead off the next inning, but once again retired the next three in order to get back to the dugout unscathed.
Coming into the game, Arkansas’ defense was ranked third in the nation and best in the SEC with a .985 fielding percentage. Shortstop Jalen Battles and third baseman Cayden Wallace — with the help of first baseman Peyton Stovall — each made incredible plays to assist Smith in completing a scoreless top of the sixth.
“They’re really big,” Smith said. “You can just throw a pitch where you need to and if they hit it hard, they’re going to make a play behind you. So it’s really easy to pitch like that.”
Tasked with getting three more outs in the seventh, Smith executed perfectly, working his fourth 1-2-3 inning to finish the outing in under 100 pitches. The southpaw matched multiple season bests with seven innings pitched, two hits allowed, one walk issued and zero runs given up. It was also his sixth start not allowing an extra-base hit and the seven strikeouts were tied for his third most in 2022.
Smith felt much more relaxed pitching in front of the home crowd and thinks it influenced LSU’s attitude playing in a hostile environment.
“It feels pretty comfortable,” Smith said. “We have really good fans, and I know they’re going to be loud, and the other team is going to be a little timid playing here.”
Looking forward to the series finale on Saturday, the Razorbacks will give sophomore Jaxon Wiggins the ball in an attempt to sweep the Tigers.
“I think Jaxon is going to have a good outing, and I feel good about the guys that are going to be ready behind him,” Van Horn said. “You can separate yourself a little bit if you find a way to win tomorrow.”
First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on SEC Network-Plus.
