FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas left-hander Hagen Smith earned his second SEC pitcher of the week award in less than a month Monday.
Smith pitched six scoreless innings at Auburn last Thursday to lead the No. 1 Razorbacks to a 1-0 victory. Smith allowed 3 hits and 2 walks and had 12 strikeouts during the 87-pitch outing.
Smith worked out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings. He stranded two runners in scoring position in the fourth and the bases loaded in the sixth.
“I think the fourth and the sixth innings are the evolution of Hagen Smith,” Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs said on the Razorback Sports Network the day following the game. “I don’t think think we’ve seen that in the past. We would it in bits and [pieces], but he’s been pretty good in those situations all year. He’s got another level, another gear now, that as the situations get more tense and the situations get a little more in terms of scoring runs and runners in scoring position, he has an ability to go grab a pitch and get better.”
Hobbs pointed to Smith’s inside fastball of left-hander Mason Maners to end the fourth inning as a “really huge pitch in the game.” He also credited Smith for overcoming an error by left fielder Ross Lovich during the sixth inning.
“He has to battle through a play we should make in left field and has [base runners at] second and third with one out, and he finds a way to get two more outs and get off the field,” Hobbs said. “That had been something that had been a problem for him in the past. Now you get to see the evolution of a guy who has multiple pitches he can throw and he’s confident in those situations.”
Beginning with a scoreless 6-inning, 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State on Feb. 23 that earned Smith his first SEC pitcher of the week award, the junior has 60 strikeouts and 1 allowed run in 28 innings.
Smith enters his scheduled Thursday start against No. 7 LSU on Thursday ranked first nationally in strikeouts per 9 innings (19.2), fifth in WHIP (0.72), and 11th in ERA (1.24). Smith’s 3.4 hits allowed per game rank second nationally.
“I think I just pound the zone,” Smith said Thursday when asked what had gone well recently. “We talk about it all the time as a staff, and I think we do a really good job of it, is the race to [two strikes]. That’s what has led to most of our success this year.”
Smith shared the pitcher of the week award with Texas A&M sophomore left-hander Justin Lamkin, who struck out 12 and allowed 1 run in 7 1/3 innings against Mississippi State.