Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith has now been named to his third preseason All-American list.
With just over a week to go before the start of the baseball season, Arkansas ace hurler Hagen Smith has added yet another preseason honor to his resume.
The 6-foot-3 junior lefty has been named a preseason first-team All-American by Baseball America, arguably the most prestigious of all the preseason lists. The publication polls major league scouting directors, who are asked to vote for the All-America team, based on performance, talent and professional potential.
Smith is the first Razorback in five years be named a Baseball America first-team preseason All-American since bullpen ace Matt Cronin earned first-team honors before the 2019 season.
The Bullard, Texas, native was a consensus All-American selection as a sophomore last season, after making 18 mound appearances with 11 starts. He posted an 8-2 record with a 3.64 ERA, and a team-leading 109 strikeouts. He also had two saves in relief, and held opposing hitters to a .217 batting average.
Smith made the SEC’s All-Freshman team in 2022, while also being named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game. He was a semifinalist for last year’s Golden Spikes Award, and was named the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year. He also became the first Razorback starting pitcher, since Ryne Stanek in 2013, to earn All-SEC first-team honors.
He was also selected as a preseason first-team All-American by D1Baseball and Perfect Game, who have each tabbed him the SEC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Smith will likely take the mound for Arkansas on Opening Day, as the Razorbacks host James Madison on Feb, 16, for the first of a four-game series.
Hogs’ left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith has been racking up preseason awards, the latest is something a Razorback hasn’t done since 2016.
Arkansas pitcher [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag] was named a preseason first team All-American by D1Baseball on Monday, becoming the first Razorback to earn the honor since relief pitcher Zach Jackson in 2016.
The left-hander is coming off an impressive 2023 campaign where he was named a consensus All-American. In addition to that, Smith earned first team All-SEC honors and was a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year Award. He became the first Arkansas pitcher since Ryne Stanek in 2013 to be named All-SEC first team.
Smith made 18 appearances last year as a sophomore, 11 of them being starts. He went 8-2 with a 3.63 ERA and opponent batting average of .217, a team-best 109 strikeouts and two saves in 71 2/3 innings of work.
Against SEC competition, Smith made 11 appearances with five starts. He posted a 5-1 record with 3.07 ERA, opponent batting average of .201 and 65 strikeouts in 44 innings of work.
Smith has been racking up preseason honors as he’s now a first team All-American according to both D1Baseball and Perfect Game. He’s also been picked as the SEC Preseason Pitcher of the Year by both publications.
The [autotag]Diamond Hogs[/autotag] begin their road to Omaha on Friday, Feb. 16 at 3:00 p.m. when they take on James Madison as part of a four-game series.
Dave Van Horn is very confident in Arkansas’ bullpen depth and versatility entering the 2024 season.
[autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] has never really had issues with the quality of their pitching under [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag]. Quantity, on the other hand, has been the issue over as of late.
The bullpen is shaping up fine, we have some really good arms,” Van Horn said. “Obviously, they have to go out and do it in a real game, but bullpens have been great.
We feel like we have a really good mix of left and right-handed pitching. The right-handed pitching is usually there, but have some options (that are) left-handed out of the pen is going to be a big-time plus for us this year.”
Last year, the bullpen was decimated by injury and struggled without the key arms of [autotag]Dylan Carter[/autotag], [autotag]Koty Frank[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Tygart[/autotag]. This year, they will add those guys back to a stacked and pretty healthy pitching rotation.
Carter is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and freshman left-hander Hunter Dietz will miss about two months with a stress fracture, but other than that the Diamond Hogs are in good shape.
Their starting rotation of [autotag]Hagen Smith[/autotag], Brady Tygart and [autotag]Mason Molina[/autotag] could be one of the strongest in the SEC. Koty Frank, Gage Wood and Will McEntire headline an extremely strong bullpen rotation that is more than capable of holding their own and throwing different looks at opponents.
Left-handed Kansas transfer [autotag]Stone Hewlett[/autotag] was a guy that Van Horn singled out in his press conference.
“If you’re looking for a left-on-left matchup, we have Stone Hewlett, he transferred in from Kansas,” Van Horn said. “That’s what he does. He gets lefties out.”
Aside from Hewlett, Arkansas has sophomore Parker Coll and a slew of other freshman who looked very promising through the fall.
All-in-all, this year’s pitching staff has a legitimate chance to be the nation’s best. The key, as always, will be remaining healthy and avoiding an avalanche of major injuries like last year. If the [autotag]Diamond Hogs[/autotag]’ bullpen can do that, the rest of college baseball should be very afraid.
Arkansas baseball opens up their season with a four-game series against James Madison beginning on Friday, Feb. 16th at 3:00 p.m. in Baum-Walker Stadium.
The Razorbacks baseball team takes the field Friday for their first official practice for the upcoming season.
With the football and basketball teams not giving fans much to cheer about this year, the Arkansas faithful are hoping that baseball season will finally create a reason to cheer.
The treacherous weather continues to play a role in activities, so Head Coach Dave Van Horn hopes to get some help from Mother Nature over the weekend. Arkansas got outside for the first time on Wednesday, but just a light workout, shagging flyballs and working on pop-up communication.
The Razorbacks will take off on Saturday, due to weather, as well as the Razorback Invitational track meet being held next door.
“But we will go back at it on Sunday and throw the first pitch at 12 noon,” Van Horn said, as he met with the media on Thursday. “Then we will scrimmage again on Monday. And next week looks great, so that’s the plan right now.”
After a disappointing early exit from the Fayetteville Regional last May, expectations are soaring for the Hogs as they try to reach the College World Series for the fourth time in six years. Arkansas is ranked No. 2 in the Perfect Game Preseason Top 25, and No. 3 in the D1Baseball poll.
“I think we lost maybe seven starters in the field again, just like we did the previous year, and maybe the year before that,” Van Horn said. “We’ve been very fortunate that some of the young freshmen have developed into good sophomores, and now they’re good juniors. Guys that maybe didn’t play every day last year because of injuries, have come in and really made a jump. And our pitching staff, the young guys have gotten better, and we’ve plugged in a portal guy, here and there.
“And I think the polls reflect that a little bit. What they probably like is that our pitching is good and it’s deep. And that there is a lot of potential there with our offense. But who’s to say how that is going to turn out.”
The anticipation for the upcoming season began in the fall, as Arkansas brought in the nation’s top recruiting class, as well as some key additions through the transfer portal, adding to an already impressive roster of returners.
The Diamond Hogs posted a 43-18 overall record in 2023, winning its fourth overall SEC championship and its second in the last three seasons. They are the only SEC program and one of just two teams in the country with at least 40 wins in each of the last six full seasons.
Van Horn plans to use this first weekend to get his players back in the groove of playing on an actual field, as they have been confined primarily to the indoor facility since the fall season ended in October.
“Really, this weekend is all about getting live at-bats on a baseball field, with our pitchers going, and running the bases. When you are throwing to hitters inside, they’re not running. They’re just swinging. The pitchers obviously have an advantage inside. It’s harder to hit inside, in an area like that. Although our guys do a good job in there, outside is just a different feel. So really, more than anything, its just a matter of playing the game with live at-bats for our hitters, just playing baseball.”
Arkansas will open the season at home with a four-game series against James Madison, beginning on Feb. 16.
The Diamond Hogs are the second-highest ranked SEC team in the poll, just behind Florida who enters the year at the No. 2. spot. Wake Forest claimed the No. 1 ranking to begin the season. Defending national champion LSU was ranked right behind the Razorbacks at No. 4.
Here's the @d1baseball Top 10 of the Preseason Top 25 Rankings.
Arkansas was one of 10 SEC programs to be ranked in D1Baseball’s preseason poll, which is the most of all other conferences. It also marks the Hogs’ highest ranking in the poll since they began the 2022 season ranked No. 2.
After disappointing football and basketball seasons, fans are looking towards [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag] and Arkansas baseball to provide some much-needed solace. The Razorbacks will officially begin their 2024 campaign on Feb. 16 with a four-game series at home against James Madison.
First pitch for Opening Day is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Former Arkansas Razorbacks infielder Matt Reynolds has decided to extend his professional baseball career in Japan.
After spending the past 11 seasons playing professional baseball in the United States, former Arkansas All-SEC infielder Matt Reynolds is taking his talent overseas.
A dual-sport standout at Tulsa’s Bishop-Kelley High school, Reynolds spurned a few college basketball offers to play baseball for the Razorbacks from 2010-12. In his three seasons at Arkansas, he started 141 games and hit .275 with 72 RBI. He was also a part of the 2012 College World Series team that advanced to the national semifinals.
“Playing at Arkansas was huge for my career, and definitely prepared me for the higher levels of pro ball,” Reynolds said. “Getting to play in front of 12,000 fans on the weekend is probably one of my favorite experiences in my baseball career.
“Once you get into pro ball, it’s just a different animal and you really begin to realize how much you miss playing in the college game. The pros has the business side of things that you don’t have to deal with in college. In college, I could go 0-for-4, but if we won, I was pumped. In pro ball it’s just different, with the pressure of performing, so you can hopefully get called up.”
Obviously, playing in the College World Series is one of the highlights of his collegiate career, but he can still recall a number of special moments while playing in Fayetteville, that will forever be etched in his mind.
He vividly recalls James McCann’s three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth in 2011 that gave the No. 22 Razorbacks a 4-3 win over the No. 15 Tigers in front of an all-time record crowd at Baum Stadium.
“It feels like that just happened yesterday,” Reynolds said with a chuckle.
Then there was Collin Kuhn’s two-out grand slam in 2010 to give Arkansas a 17-16 win over Kentucky in an epic game on Easter Sunday. Kuhn’s mother, who was battling cancer, was in the stands after traveling from Wisconsin to watch him play.
“God was definitely looking over him in that situation, and I will never forget that moment,” Reynolds said. “Just so many special memories.”
Reynolds was drafted by the New York Mets in the second round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft – the 71st overall selection. He made his professional debut that season for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the A-level South Atlantic League.
As he progressed through the minor leagues, he spent the 2015 regular season playing for New York’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51’s. He was then called up to join the Mets for their playoff run. He instantly made history, becoming the first player in the modern baseball era to be added to a postseason roster in the middle of a series without having any previous major-league experience. He also became the third player in modern baseball history to be included on a postseason roster without previous major-league experience.
“At that time I didn’t realize how special it really was,” said Reynolds, who was on the Mets’ roster when they defeated the Dodgers in the NL Divisional Series and when they beat the Cubs for the National League pennant. He was also in the Mets’ dugout for their heart-breaking loss to Kansas City in the 2015 World Series.
“Not many people get to experience a World Series in their career, and I got to experience one in my first days in the Big Leagues,” he said. “Now, when I look back it’s like, ‘Wow, what a ride.’ Getting to be a part of the World Series in college and in the pros, that was really special.”
“I feel like I got a fair shot at the Big Leagues, and got plenty of opportunities, but it is what it is,” he said. “Early on I was kind of thrown into one of the toughest roles in baseball, which was primarily pinch-hitting and getting a spot-start once every seven or eight days. In that position, you don’t get very many at-bats, and when you do get an at-bat, you are facing their eighth- or ninth-inning guy, and getting nasty stuff.”
After putting up solid numbers for the Triple-A Louisville Bats last season, Reynolds began drawing interest from a few Japanese teams, with one team offering to purchase his contract from the Reds during the season. Cincinnati declined the offer, so after making only two brief appearances with the Reds, he finished out the year with Louisville and became a free agent.
“After I finished the year at Triple-A, I told my agent that I was really interested in pursuing something overseas, either Korea or Japan,” he said. “The first day I became a free agent, Hiroshima offered me. So after we negotiated for a few days, I decided to sign with them. It was a really cool opportunity for me.
“I think it’s just adds another layer to my career. The writing was kind of on the wall over here. It felt like I needed to try somewhere else to make some money and provide for my family. I got this opportunity and it was something that I just couldn’t pass up.”
Now residing in the Dallas area, he and his wife – former Razorback soccer player Sam Wolf – now have a 2-year-old son, Grady, and a 1-month-old daughter, Hallie.
Reynolds has no regrets for how his career has turned out, thus far, and isn’t sure how much longer he will play. He wants to continue playing as long as the game is still enjoyable.
“I’m just trying to enjoy my last few years – play hard, work hard and just enjoy it as much as I can,” he said, “And also set a good example for my son. He is just starting to understand what I’m doing, and now having him at the field, and I can see him in the stands, it’s just a feeling I’ve never had.”
Jun 22, 2012; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks third baseman Matt Reynolds (5) steals second base ahead of the tag by South Carolina Gamecoks short stop Joey Pankake (9) during the first inning during game thirteen of the 2012 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Matt Ryerson-USA TODAY Sports
TCU insider Jamie Plunkett reported on Tuesday morning that Morris has committed to the Horned Frogs. Plunkett tweeted that he was told about Morris’ commitment news, tagging the official TCU baseball account.
I'm told #TCU has earned the commitment of Arkansas LHP Zack Morris out of the transfer portal.
Morris has a career ERA of 4.77 in just 61 appearances. He only had 18 appearances for the [autotag]Diamond Hogs[/autotag] in 2023 and struggled to find consistency. He finished the year with a 7.64 ERA and record of 1-4.
Last season was undoubtedly a disappointment for Morris and the Arkansas coaching staff after he had an incredible 2022. Morris was a integral part of the pitching staff that helped the Razorbacks to Omaha. He finished 2022 with a record of 6-1 and 2.31 ERA in 22 appearances.
The 1980s laid the groundwork for what Arkansas baseball has become today. Here’s a look at the best Razorbacks from that important decade of baseball.
The rich history of [autotag]Arkansas baseball[/autotag] really didn’t start until the 1980s. Legendary Razorback head coach [autotag]Norm DeBriyn[/autotag] put the program on the map during this decade.
The program’s first trip to the College World Series happened in 1979, where they finished runner-up to Cal State Fullerton. That success carried over into the 1980 and ushered in a new era of Razorback baseball under DeBriyn.
During this decade, Arkansas would have seven NCAA Tournament appearances – 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989. They would advance to the College World Series in 1985, 1987 and 1989.
Arkansas was still in the Southwest Conference (SWC) back in those days and, ironically, have as many conference tournament championships from the SWC as they do since joining the SEC – one. The Razorbacks won the 1985 SWC Tournament championship and it was the program’s only conference tournament title until 2021.
The 1980s laid the foundation for what Arkansas baseball is today, and there were a lot of talented players that Norm DeBriyn counted on to accomplish that feat.
We took the best players from that decade and put together to form one fictional super-team. Here’s a look at Arkansas baseball’s All-80s team.
The injury bug strikes again for Dave Van Horn and Arkansas baseball’s pitching staff
The injury bug has struck Arkansas baseball yet again. The Diamond Hogs lost another important bullpen piece when RHP [autotag]Dylan Carter[/autotag] suffered a season-ending UCL tear.
The sophomore from Bentonville shared the heartbreaking news to Twitter with a short statement.
“Razorback Nation: It is with a heavy heart that I announce my 2023 season has come to an end due to a UCL tear,” Carter’s announcement read. “This season has been nothing short of amazing and our teams season isn’t over yet. I will be the best teammate and supporter as we finish up the season and begin our run to Omaha. #31”
Carter was injured in last Thursday’s series-opening win over Texas A&M after just one inning of relief work. He’s been stellar this season, having recorded a 6-0 record, 3.65 ERA and two saves across 37 innings pitched this season. Carter has walked 11 batters, struck out 26 and opponents are batting .264 against him.
This is third season-ending injury suffered by an Arkansas pitcher. Jaxon Wiggins and Koty Frank are both out with UCL injuries that required Tommy John surgery, just as Carter will need.
Tavian Joseberg has officially been ruled out indefinitely due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the Saturday game in the weekend series loss to Georgia. As a result, he didn’t travel with the team to Missouri State.
Injuries have plagued the Razorbacks all season, but it seems to have become a real problem within the last couple of weeks of games.
“We’re just trying to patch this thing together until we can get all of our guys back,” Van Horn said. “We’ve just got to win enough games to get to a regional because there’s going to be a lot of conference games played without our guys. We’ve got to find a way to win.”
The center fielder has been one of the more consistent players for the Diamond Hogs. Just three weeks ago, he was named SEC Player of the Week, putting together .571 BA, .657 SLG, 1.143 OPS with eight hits, including two doubles and two homers, and six RBI.
This makes two outfielders injured in the last two weeks, with Jared Wegner nursing a thumb injury. The Diamond Hogs host Texas A&M for a very important weekend series.
