Honors and Awards
- 2025: D1Baseball First Team Freshman All-American
- 2025: Baseball America Second Team Freshman All-American
- 2025: Perfect Game Second Team Freshman All-American
- 2025: Big 12 All-Freshman Team
Arizona 2025 (Freshman)
Critical piece of the starting pitching rotation during his freshman year…Named a Freshman All-American by D1Baseball (First Team), Baseball America (Second Team), Perfect Game (Second Team), in addition to being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team…Appeared in and started 18 games on the mound throughout the season, compiling a record of 3-3…Posted an ERA of 3.94 across 89 innings of work…Limited opposing hitters to just .267 at the plate…Had 80 strikeouts compared to 32 walks…Made his collegiate debut in impressive fashion, throwing four scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while striking out five batters against Louisville (2/16)...Had a second consecutive scoreless outing on the mound after throwing five innings and allowing just three hits and zero runs, while striking out three against San Diego (2/23)...Helped Arizona complete the sweep against Cincinnati by throwing five innings and allowing no runs and two hits, while striking out five in game three (3/16)...In the rubber match against Houston (5/17), had a gem of a performance - going six innings and allowing just one run while striking out five batters to help lead Arizona to a victory. POSTSEASON: Got the start in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game against TCU (5/24) and delivered in exceptional fashion, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing four hits and just one run, while striking out five batters, as Arizona went on to win the game 2-1 and win the Conference Tournament…Started on the mound in the Eugene NCAA Regional Championship game against Cal Poly (6/1), throwing six scoreless innings in which he allowed four hits and struck out five batters…Started on the mound in the pivotal game three of the Chapel Hill NCAA Super Regional against North Carolina (6/8) and delivered by throwing six innings and allowing three runs on five hits, while striking out four batters as Arizona went on to win the game and advance to the College World Series…Started Arizona’s second game of the College World Series against Louisville (6/15), allowing two runs on seven hits across six innings.
High School
Prepped at Mountain Ridge High School in Arizona and lettered four years in baseball under head coach Eddie Bonine… Finished prep career ranked as the No. 5 prospect and the No. 1 right-handed pitcher in Arizona by Perfect Game…Across 19 varsity appearances, went 13-4 with a 1.73 ERA while striking out 120 over 109.1 innings of work…As a senior in 2024, went 3-2 with a 1.20 ERA and 45 strikeouts…Posted a dominant junior campaign, going 10-1 with a 1.41 ERA and 72 strikeouts…Tabbed as the Desert Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a junior…As a junior in 2024, earned First Team All-Conference, All-City, All-District, All-Region, and All-State…Holds the Mountain Ridge HS single-season wins record with 10 as a junior…Competed in the 2023 Area Code Games with the Reds…Participated in the 2022 Area Code Underclass Games with the Reds.
Personal
Smith Michael Bailey…Son of Michael and Kim Bailey…One older brother, Gray…Majoring in Communication...Father played collegiate baseball at Chapman University…Hobbies include golfing, fishing, shopping, watching the sunset, and relaxing…Chose Arizona because, “I formed a great relationship with the coaches. I wanted to stay in state, and this was the best place for me to go while doing that.”
