D-backs’ prospect Pavin Smith explodes for 5-hit night

He didn’t hit for the cycle, but what a night for Arizona Diamondbacks prospect and first-round pick Pavin Smith.

The Hillsboro Hops first baseman had five hits, scored five times and drove in three runs in a 19-7 win over the Vancouver Canadians Tuesday night.

Smith, the seventh overall pick in the MLB Amateur Draft out of Virginia last month, started his evening by leading off the top of the second inning with a walk. In his second at-bat in the fourth, Smith knocked in Camden Duzenack and Eudy Ramos with a double — part of a four-run frame for the Hops.

In the fifth, he drove in Ramos again, this time on a triple to right field. Smith then singled in the sixth, which set up the opportunity for a rare cycle. Needing a home run, Smith singled in the eighth and in his last at-bat in the ninth, he singled once again.

No cycle, but a five-hit night is pretty rare too, especially considering it came in Smith’s 21st professional game. The 21-year-old has 10 hits in his last three games and has raised his batting average to .373, which leads the Northwest League.

It was a night to remember for @Dbacks first-rounder Pavin Smith, with five hits and five runs, and @HillsboroHops. https://t.co/R9bgnIuzQ3 pic.twitter.com/rRY7bL8Lam

— MiLB.com (@MiLB) July 19, 2017

“My last two at-bats, I knew I needed a home run and I was trying to hit a home run,” Smith told MiLB.com after the game. “Trying hard to hit a home run doesn’t always work.”

Smith has yet to homer in his brief pro career, but he did have 28 round-trippers in his three-year collegiate career at Virginia.

The left-handed hitter had a four-hit game on July 5 — three singles and a double — in a 17-2 win over Salem-Keizer.

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