Smith, Tygart to compete at USA Baseball training camp
Arkansas sophomore left-hander Hagen Smith and sophomore right-hander Brady Tygart have been invited to compete in the 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp for the second year in a row.
The camp features 56 non-draft eligible college players, who are invited to compete in a four-game Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad series from June 25-28. The number will be trimmed to 26 players who will be on the Collegiate National Team roster and will compete in a friendship series with Chinese Taipei and Japan. Those games will take place from June 30 to July 12.
Smith's sophomore campaign earned him a First-Team All-American nod from Collegiate Baseball and he was also named First Team All-SEC as a starting pitcher. He appeared in 18 games with 11 starts and pitched in a variety of roles across 71 2/3 innings.
The left-hander went 8-2 on the season with a 3.64 ERA and led the team in strikeouts with 102. Smith started the season as the team’s ace but shifted to the bullpen midseason in a “wild card” role before moving back to the ace spot.
Tygart pitched in just 10 games as a sophomore as he dealt with a UCL sprain for a large portion of the regular season. The righty ended with a 3-1 record on the season and a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings pitched. Tygart made four appearances out of the bullpen before being sidelined for just over eight weeks with the injury.
The Hernando, Mississippi, native returned to the pitching staff as a starter with six starts, four in conference play, and batters hit just .094 against him. Tygart struck out 12 batters in 10 innings of work and had a 1.80 ERA in SEC play.
Both were invited following their freshman campaigns last year, as well. The pair were also listed on rosters in the Cape Cod Baseball League for this summer.
The intrasquad games will be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The schedule for those games is June 25 at 3 p.m. CT, June 26 at 6 p.m., June 27 at 7 p.m., and June 28 at 6 p.m.
Arkansas has had 21 players compete for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team since 1979 with Jaxon Wiggins and Robert Moore most recently competing back in 2021.