The left-handed-hitting catcher from Vandalia Butler walloped 17 home runs in the last 19 games, including three in the NCAA regional at Vanderbilt, while driving in 39 runs.
The Washington Nationals’ sixth-round draft pick broke the Horizon League record for homers by three with 26 and tied the career mark with 51.
“He was pressing a little bit early in the year with the draft. And then he got to a point where he said, ‘I’m just going to enjoy this and have fun.’ It’s amazing what happens after that,” Sogard said.
Though his absence will be felt, the Raiders go into their season-opening series at Georgia on Friday with plenty of firepower, returning six of their top seven hitters from last year.
They don’t have a single player who can match what Smith did. But collectively? Oh, yeah.
Junior DH Gus Gregory batted .344, sophomore second-baseman Braylen Blomquist .333, senior third-basemen Patrick Fultz .332, sophomore first-baseman Hunter Warren .328, sophomore right-fielder Cam Gilkerson .305 and junior left-fielder JP Peltier .303 (along with 20 homers and 69 RBIs).
Warren, Blomquist and pitcher Cam Allen were first-team all-league picks with Warren earning freshman of the year honors.
“We’ve got a lot of leadership and experience offensively, and I feel good about our starting pitching,” said Sogard, whose team also has non-league series with Tennessee, Charlotte and Campbell.
“Early, it’s going to be tough playing those teams. But the core group, I feel really good about.”
The Raiders ought to have a positive vibe around the program after knocking off No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, 5-4, in Nashville.
It ended a 10-game losing streak in the tourney. They went 2-2 in the regional, notching the first NCAA wins for the program and the league since 2016.
“Every year is different, every team is different. Something we talk about is, ‘We can beat anybody.’ But for it to happen, there’s a little more belief with those returners,” Sogard said.
“You just remind those guys that last year’s team was so special. We do have a lot of returners. But we have to earn everything — just like we did last year.”
The 39-year-old Sogard is going into his eighth year with a new contract, signing an extension through 2030.
The Raiders were 40-21 overall and 25-5 in the league last year, winning their seventh-straight regular-season title. They’ve been to the NCAA tourney four of the last five years.
The five-time HL coach of the year and his wife, Arlie, have four young children, and Sogard said of Wright State: “It’s become a home to us. It wasn’t. I grew up in Arizona, and my wife in North Carolina. We didn’t know much about Ohio when we first got here, but we fell in love with it.”
His predecessors tended to stay for shorter stints before landing high-profile jobs.
But Sogard said: “We’ve got a special place here. Sure, there’s definitely opportunities (to move on), and we don’t have everything. We have plenty of problems. But the way I look at it is, everybody’s got problems. The SEC just has DIFFERENT problems.
“It’s a great place to coach. We have an outstanding staff, guys you love working with everyday. And the players — they don’t care about all the bright lights and big city. They just want to play ball. It’s baseball in its purest form. That’s what I love about it.”
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