Hagen Smith named SEC Pitcher of the Year
After one of the best regular seasons of any Arkansas pitcher in program history, Hagen Smith was named SEC Pitcher of the Year by the league's coaches on Monday.
Arkansas' lefty ace is the first Razorback pitcher to win the award since Kevin Kopps accomplished the feat in 2021.
During his junior season, Smith threw a total of 150 strikeouts throughout the regular season and became Arkansas' strikeout king after his final start against Texas A&M, as he surpassed former Hog Nick Schmidt (2003-2006) with 349 strikeouts in his career.
Against the Aggies, Smith struck out 14 batters (two more than he needed to surpass Schmidt’s record) and allowed no runs on four hits through six innings.
"It’s awesome that he’s going to have the strikeout record here," head coach Dave Van Horn said on Thursday. "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."
Schmidt — who was also a left-handed pitcher who wore No. 33 — posted a video to X after the performance to congratulate Smith.
“Congrats Hagen on surpassing me on the all-time strikeout leader,” Schmidt said. “Bittersweet, but at least it’s a lefty who wears 33. I wish you well the rest of the year, and go Hogs.”
The Bullard, Texas, native started receiving comparisons to former LSU right-hander Paul Skenes — who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates — not long after the season started. He made a statement against Oregon State in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 23 when he struck out 17 batters in six innings of work.
"That’s just one of those games that you sit back and admire it," Peyton Holt said on Feb. 23. "You don’t see many performances like that, ever. So, it was pretty fun to watch. He was pumped, we were pumped. It was a good game, he did really well."
That start was his second of the season, but it was easily more memorable than the first — which came against James Madison at Baum-Walker Stadium. In that game, he only made it through one inning as he gave up three runs on 42 total pitches during a frigid afternoon in Fayetteville.
Since that game, the projected top-10 pick has been nearly untouchable. His ERA is just 1.52 in the 77.0 innings he's pitched and batters are hitting just .117 against him this season.
LSU head coach Jay Johnson — who coached Skenes last season — had high praise for Smith after he pitched six innings and struck out 10 Tiger batters on March 28.
"He’s good, man, it’s 98 (miles per hour) and then it’s subtracting 10 or 11 on the changeup and landing the slider," Johnson said. "He’s a lot to deal with. I don’t like that we had as many strikeouts as we did, but that’s what he does to everybody. He’s really good. He’s one of the best pitchers I’ve ever faced in my entire career. I hope we get to face him again at some point. That would be good for our team."
South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston and catcher Cole Messina also had a front-row seat to a Hagen Smith shove fest on April 19, and they said he's not someone they want to face again.
“I think Hagen is just really good all around," Messina said. "I tip my cap to him. He has a really good fastball and can throw a really, really good slider. He threw strikes when he needed to and made pitches. You tip your cap and hope you don’t face him again for awhile.”
Kingston said Smith's slider was devastating to the Gamecock hitters, of which he struck out 11 in six innings pitched.
“His average fastball was 98," Kingston said. "He threw a slider for strikes all night, and that’s why he’s going to be the first pitcher off the board for the Major League draft. He’s done that to everybody this year, and we were no different.”
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said Smith is likely the best pitcher he's seen at this level of baseball.
"He's been amazing," Van Horn said May 6. "He's one of the best pitchers I've ever seen at this level. There's been guys that go through college that have pitched in the big leagues for 20 years and won Cy Young Awards that are not better than what he's doing. Not better than him."
Now that the regular season is over, Smith's final task will be leading Arkansas to its first national championship in program history. That starts with the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
On Wednesday, Arkansas will play the winner of Tuesday’s matchup that features 7-seed Alabama and 10-seed South Carolina, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. CT on SEC Network.