Amanda Smith brings innings-eating, strikeout-heavy RHP upside to Illinois
Smith is a high-volume right-handed pitcher whose track record points to durability and swing-and-miss ability: Illinois notes she went 15-13 with a 2.97 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 2025, after a freshman year that featured a 1.80 ERA, 163 strikeouts and 206 innings pitched. Her differentiator is workload plus production—she has already shown she can handle a heavy staff load and still miss bats, which makes her a strong fit for a team that values a dependable, battle-tested starter with conference-accolade level polish.
