Arkansas pitcher Hagen Smith was awarded National Pitcher of the Year honors by the College Baseball Foundation on Wednesday.
Smith took home the award over finalists Chase Burns of Wake Forest, Ryan Johnson of Dallas Baptist, Jamie Arnold of Florida State and Trey Yesavage of East Carolina.
Smith went 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 16 starts for the Razorbacks in 2024. He began the year 9-0 and carried a 1.48 ERA into the NCAA Tournament before allowing six runs in the fifth inning of Arkansas’ 7-6 loss to Kansas State in the Fayetteville Regional.
The left-hander struck out 161 batters in 84 innings, the second highest total in the nation behind Burns’ 191 strikeouts. Smith led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings with 17.25 and finished fourth nationally in ERA.
Smith, who was named SEC Pitcher of the Year, is also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which will be announced Saturday. Georgia slugger Charlie Condon and Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana are also finalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
Smith was also a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which was awarded to Condon last week. He is the second Arkansas pitcher to win the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year award after Kevin Kopps did so in 2021. LSU’s Paul Skenes, now a rookie with the Pittsburgh Pirates, won the award last season.
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