FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas ace Hunter Dietz became the third Razorback selected in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft when the New York Yankees picked the left-hander No. 35 overall Saturday afternoon.Cross-town rival New York Mets selected Razorbacks' RHP Carson Wiggins with the No. 27 overall pick. With the selection off Dietz, Arkansas now has three players drafted in the first round of the draft, which is the second-most in school history.The 6-foot-6, 235 pound southpaw was the Razorbacks' ace throughout the 2026 season, recording a 7-4 record from the mound, 3.57 ERA and a team-leading 131 strikeouts.With the 35th pick of the 2026 #MLBDraft, the @Yankees select Hunter Dietz! pic.twitter.com/fGnGAh9FQp— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) July 11, 2026After hardly seeing the mound over his first two seasons at Arkansas, Dietz emerged as the team's most reliable arm to open weekend series, notching an SEC-high strikeouts looking across 85.2 innings and 16 starts.His performance as a junior earned him four All-American honors by the likes of D1 Baseball, Baseball America, ABCA/Rawlings and the NCBWA. Dietz was also a first team All-SEC selection and made the All-Regional team for his performance in the Lawrence Regional during the NCAA Tournament. With the Yankees' selection of Dietz, that now gives the Razorbacks a total of 17 first round draft picks all-time, and seventh pitcher of Van Horn's career to be picked in the opening round.Other former Arkansas pitchers to be chosen in the first round include LHP Nick Schmidt (No. 23 overall, San Diego Padres, 2007), RHP Ryne Stanek (No. 29 overall, Tampa Bay Rays, 2013), LHP Hagen Smith (No. 5 overall, Chicago White Sox, 2024), RHP Gage Wood (No. 26 overall, Philadelphia Phillies, 2025), LHP Zach Root (No. 40 overall, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2025) and RHP Carson Wiggins (No. 27 overall, New York Mets, 2026).Arkansas Razorbacks Hunter Dietz against the Oklahoma Sooners. | Arkansas CommunicationsDeitz proved why he was such a highly sought after high school recruit and MLB as he was the first SEC pitcher of the 2026 season to surpass the 100-strikeout mark. His 131 strikeouts as a junior comes in at No. 4 on the Razorbacks' single-season list for strikeouts by a pitcher.A member of the Razorbacks' program-best recruiting class in 2023, Dietz was considered the No. 51 overall prospect and the No. 5 left-hander in the class, according Perfect Game.Prior to the draft, Dietz was considered the No. 17 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, but it worked out well for the Yankees after receiving a 10-pick penalty for the second consecutive year after exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax last season.He has a unique skillset of sorts for the next level, but has the potential to be a steal of a late-first round pick. His tall frame combined with a powerful over the top arm slot allows him to fill up the zone effortlessly with a fastball that touches 98 MPH on occasion.Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs likes to incorporate a mix of three-to-four pitches into his pitcher's repertoire, which certainly showed up well for Dietz this spring. His creativity at the mound allowed him to be somewhat versatile without relying solely on power and speed to get batters out.His ability to throw strikes lower in the zone while attacking with a variety of different looks allowed him to go through the order multiple times an outing without much difficulty.Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow