Hagen Smith becomes unlikely hero in Stillwater Regional final

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 Michael Turner 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 Hagen Smith 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.

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….