In what was an exciting, unrelenting grind of a Regional, the Arkansas Razorbacks stood tall and left Stillwater with the opportunity to continue their season in the Super Regional round.
When it came down to all-around effort, catcher [autotag]Michael Turner[/autotag] did it all for the Razorbacks. He was amazing in the field and was clutch at the plate, en route to winning the Stillwater Regional MVP.
But, in the regional-clinching game, an unlikely hero came at a time when his squad needed him to step up the most, and he delivered.
In the top of the 8th inning of Arkansas’ 7-3 win over Oklahoma State, freshman [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] got the call to step on the rubber and hold the Razorbacks’ lead.
Smith, who was chased from his start after 1.1 innings in Saturday’s 20-12 win over the Cowboys, had not seen significant time on the mound since the April 30 game against Ole Miss. Early on, he showed signs of distress as he allowed the first three batters that he faced to reach base. However, his first recorded out was a three-pitch strikeout to Chase Adkison, and that seemed to light the fire that Smith had been missing for a few weeks.
In the next at-bat, Smith went toe-to-toe with the Oklahoma State freshman who has played the role of villain in the regional, Roc Riggio. In an at-bat that lasted five pitches, Smith forced Riggio to swing and miss, ending the Cowboys’ bases-loaded threat.
GROWN — MAN pic.twitter.com/WuNasa3mgp
— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) June 7, 2022
Using the momentum built in the 8th inning, as well as a two-run double by Turner in the top of the 9th to provide more cushion, Smith was able to sit down the Cowboys in order to close the game, and to solidify the Razorbacks’ victory.
The confidence that Smith showed on the mound in Monday’s win stems from late Sunday night, following Arkansas’ 14-10 loss to Oklahoma State. Head Coach Dave Van Horn shared why he trusted Smith to get the job done in the 8th inning during his postgame press conference:
I asked the pitchers to text me last night. “If you got anything, tell me what you got. Hagen Smith was the first text on my phone. He said “my arm feels awesome. I want the ball in any situation.” That meant something to me. I felt like he really wanted the ball. He has all the ability in the world. He didn’t have a good outing the day before last. To get out those good hitters, we needed that kind of stuff on the mound. Once he got it together, and he struck out the nine-hole and the one-hole, our team was jacked.
Hagen Smith and Arkansas will now prepare to face North Carolina this weekend in the Chapel Hill Super Regional. The dates and times for this weekend will be released at a later time.
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