Despite the Diamond Hogs season coming to an end, history was made this weekend. Arkansas baseball Ace Hagan Smith broke the Razorbacks' single-season strikeout record of 155 set by Nick Schmidt with 161 of his own.
When he broke the record, Smith was in his usual form, striking out six batters in four innings and allowing only one hit. However, the fifth wasn't as kind to him. He walked two batters at the beginning of the inning, gave up three hits, and six runs in the fifth.
His last appearance in an Arkansas uniform was statistically his worst performance of the season. But there’s not another Razorback that was more consistent than Smith.
Arkansas was a mess concerning its approach at the plate, finishing with an average of .286, but had problems stranding baserunners, especially in scoring position. The other starting pitchers struggled here or there, but when Smith stepped on the mound, he was always clutch. He finished the season with a 2.04 ERA and had a strike-to-ball ratio of 161:34 in 84 innings pitched.
Coach Dave Van Horn summed up how important Smith was to the team in his post-game press conference after Arkansas's 6-3 loss to SEMO.
"Well, my thoughts on him is he's one of the best pitchers I've ever had. He's such a difference-maker for our team. Just without him, pretty much taking us five, six, seven innings in game one of every SEC series and giving us an opportunity to save our bullpen. Most of the time we end up winning that game, and we find a way to win another game. Swept a few series here. I mean, you take him off our team and we're just really average."
But Smith's record-breaking didn't stop at Arkansas. The NCAA record for strikeouts per nine innings was set in 2003 by Houston's pitcher Ryan Wagner at 16.79. Smith smashed that record, finishing his final season at Arkansas with 17.25 strikeouts per nine innings.
The season coming to an end today means Hagen Smith will finish his junior year with 161 strikeouts in 84 innings.
— Andrew Hutchinson (@NWAHutch) June 3, 2024
That's 17.25 strikeouts per nine innings, breaking the single-season Division I record of 16.79 set by Houston's Ryan Wagner in 2003.
Most likely, Smith will enter the MLB draft that starts on July 14 and runs through July 16. He's projected to be a first-round pick and one of the first pitchers off the board.