Hagen
Smith

The sophomore left-hander from Arkansas dominated Vanderbilt for five innings. He allowed just one hit, no runs and punched out eight. His electric fastball topped at 97 with deception from a short finish to his arm action. His cutter was also filthy at 89-90.

USA CNT: A premium recruit who made headlines for throwing seven no-hitters in the Texas high school ranks, Smith put together a good freshman year for the Hogs, going 7-2, 4.66 with 90 strikeouts and 46 walks in 77.1 innings. He made 15 starts but really thrived in a bullpen role during Arkansas’ run to Omaha. Loose, athletic and physical at 6-3, 215 pounds, Smith has some front-side funk and some crossfire action with a slingy low three-quarters release point, lending him some extra deception and fastball life. He sat 90-93 during a two-inning stint for Team USA in North Carolina, and he used the heater as the putaway pitch on two of his four strikeouts. He also got two strikeouts with his slider, an out pitch with excellent tilt at 80-83, spinning in the 2400s. The slider is vicious against lefties, but he can also land it for a backdoor strike against righties or back-foot it for a chase. In this look, Smith lacked his best feel for his 82-84 changeup, but the pitch has shown promise in the past.

With a quick arm from a three-quarter slot, freshman hurler Hagen Smith struck out eight in six innings. He added and subtracted on his 88-93 mph fastball that showed good angle, especially when located inside to right handed hitters. The left-hander's changeup was a bit firm, averaging 84 mph and he also showed an average slider in the 76-80 mph range.