Hagen Smith becomes Arkansas strikeout king
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After 52 games, 40 starts and 3,572 pitches in nearly three full seasons, Arkansas junior left-hander Hagen Smith has broken the Razorbacks' program career strikeouts record following a 14-punchout performance in a 1-0 loss to Texas A&M on Thursday.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Bullard, Texas, native now sits at 349 career strikeouts and has eclipsed former Arkansas lefty Nick Schmidt (2003-06) who finished his collegiate career with 345. Smith is now also just five strikeouts away from the single-season record of 155 set by Davin Walling in 1999.
"It’s awesome that he’s going to have the strikeout record here," head coach Dave Van Horn said after the game. "It’s been great having him in our program. He’s been a starter, he’s been a closer, he’s been a middle guy. He’s done a little bit of everything and he’s been good at all of it. Tonight was just another example of how good he is.
"I mean, he gave us a chance to win a game. Didn’t give them much. They got an infield hit and one ball, I think he got behind in the count 3-1 and you know, said here you go, and one of their better hitters hit it. Give him credit, but he’s meant a lot to our program the last three years. He’s been right in the middle of everything good we’ve done."
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Recently named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy — an award given annually to the top player in college baseball — after accumulating a 1.52 ERA in 77.0 innings pitched, Smith has experienced an atmospheric rise during his third campaign in Fayetteville.
The future first-round 2024 MLB Draft pick has tossed 11 double-digit strikeout games this season with a career-high 17 against Oregon State on Feb. 23 in one of the most dominant displays in baseball, and Van Horn called Smith probably the best he's ever had during his outing against the Aggies.
"I thought I threw the ball really well," Smith said after the game. "I kind of got out of some jams with the bunt I didn’t field and the pickoff. A lot of fastball and slider today. Just kind of what Huddy (White) saw and what we saw on the scouting report. We just kind of saw how that kind of translated into the game so that’s what we went with."
Arkansas' team leader in quality starts (11), Smith also leads the nation in ERA, hits allowed per nine innings (4.1) and strikeouts per nine (17.5) to close the regular season. The last time a pitcher finished as the D-1 leader in both ERA and K/9 was in 2009, when San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg struck out 16.1 batters per nine with a 1.32 ERA.
"I can't remember a better left handed starter," Texas A&M head coach Jim Scholssnagle said after the game. "Well, I should say with that kind of arm. We've faced a lot of really good left handed pitchers that have had great seasons and great numbers, but with that kind of arm, I've coached the only college pitcher to pitch in the College World Series and the Major League World Series in the same year.
"We just said in the locker room, that guy is going to be pitching this October. I don’t know how you couldn’t unless he's not rested, how do you not take that guy and get him in your bullpen?"
Up next, Smith and the Diamond Hogs will return to Blue Bell Park for Game 2 against Texas A&M on Friday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT and it will broadcast on SEC Network.
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