Diamondbacks lost two of their final three series but finished the season top-five in the nation. One of the biggest reasons Arkansas accomplished that was Hagan Smith. On Monday, the conference named him SEC pitcher of the year.

Smith is just the third Razorback in history awarded the honor. The other two were Nick Schmidt in 2006 and Kevin Kopps in 2021. Smith was 9-0 this season with one game undecided. Arkansas’s only loss with Smith as the starting pitcher was last Friday against Texas A&M.

In his game against the Aggies, Smith solidified his place in the record books with the most strikeouts as a Razorback. His journey started with a 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State at the beginning of this year and dominated the rest of the schedule, striking out double-digit batters in 11 games. He had only two games with six strikeouts or fewer.