The Arizona Wildcats baseball team has added a pitcher to the mix for the 2021 season.
Right-hander Austin Smith of Division III Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, picked Arizona over Oklahoma. D1Baseball.com first reported Smith’s decision.
Smith has been pitching for the Round Rock Hairy Men of the Texas Collegiate League, where, according to D1Baseball.com, his fastball recently touched 98 mph.
Smith played the past three seasons for Southwestern, where he compiled a 12-4 record with a 3.41 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 134 2/3 innings.
Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com wrote that Smith was “easily the most intriguing arm” he saw while scouting the Texas Collegiate League. Rogers reported that Smith’s fastball sat between 93 and 97 mph. He also showed a breaking ball in the 74- to 76-mph range.
“It could use some refinement but was fine for a show-me offering,” Rogers wrote. “Smith has a huge arm and didn’t seem to use a ton of effort the day I saw him. However, he could greatly benefit from improved secondary stuff, and that should come under the direction of either Oklahoma’s Skip Johnson or Arizona pitching coach Nate Yeskie.”
Eric Sorenson, one of D1Baseball.com’s national writers, recently picked Arizona to make the 2021 College World Series. Baseball America ranked the Wildcats 12th in its most recent projections for ’21.
The UA was 10-5 when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the 2020 season in mid-March.
Arizona also has added first baseman-outfielder TJ Curd of Treasure Coast High School in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
Curd had signed with Florida but reopened his recruitment in early June. Perfect Game ranked him as the No. 8 first-base prospect in the 2020 class.
