Dave Van Horn reacts to Hagen Smith setting Arkansas' all-time strikeout record

Arkansas pitcher Hagen Smith recorded his 346th career strikeout against Texas A&M in Thursday’s series opener, becoming the Razorbacks all-time leader in the category in just three years with the program.

Aggies head coach Jim Schlossenagle was in awe of his pitcher’s talents after recording the record, saying in his 35-year career that he’s never seen a left-hander with the kind of arm talent as Smith. After the game, Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn reminded everyone that Smith isn’t done adding to his career totals just yet.

“He hasn’t finished his career yet by any means, we have a lot more baseball to play, but it’s awesome that he’s going to have the strikeout record here. It’s been great having him with the program. He’s been a starter, a closer, a middle guy — a little bit of everything and he’s good at all of it. Tonight was just another example of how good he is … He’s meant a lot to our program the last three years,” Van Horn said. “He’s been right in the middle of everything good we’ve done.”

Smith finished the night with 14 strikeouts through six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits as Arkansas and Texas A&M battled it out in a pitchers’ duel to start the final series of the regular season.

He headed into Thursday’s start with a perfect 9-0 record in 13 starts to go with 136 strikeouts – including a program-record 17 Ks against Oklahoma State earlier this month — which tied the previous mark.

“It’s awesome,” Smith said of his new record on Thursday. “I obviously would have hoped to get that with a win, but it’s super cool to think about and hopefully we keep going.”

Smith echoed his coach’s sentiment of looking ahead at what many believe could be a deep postseason run for the Razorbacks this year. All the while, Smith will be adding to his career strikeout numbers and further separating himself in the record books.

He also has a lot to look forward to once his time in Fayetteville comes to an end, arriving into the postseason as MLB.com’s No. 6 overall prospect and No. 1-ranked pure pitcher.

Smith and the Hogs will be looking to continue their success next week in Hoover, Alabama for the 2024 SEC Tournament. However, Arkansas still has the lofty task of taking two of three in College Station on its plate before they can think about the postseason.

The first pitch for Saturday’s SEC showdown is set for 2 p.m. CT and will air live on the SEC Network.