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wo Arizona Baseball standout pitchers, right-handers Tony Pluta and Smith Bailey, both recently picked up All-America nods from Baseball America. Pluta was tabbed as a Second Team All-American, while Bailey earned Second Team Freshman All-America honors.
Their selections mark the fourth career All-America nod for Pluta and the second for Bailey. Pluta is the first Wildcat to earn All-America recognition from Baseball America since Daniel Susac was named to the second team in 2022, while Bailey is the first Arizona Freshman All-American through the publication since Susac and Jacob Berry in 2021.
Bailey, an Arizona native, logged 18 starts during his true freshman campaign and was a key contributor to the Wildcats run to the Men's College World Series. Across 89 innings of work he posted a 3.94 ERA while tallying three wins and 80 strikeouts; he limited opposing hitters to a .267 batting average. Bailey's 18 starts are tied for the most made by a freshman in program history, while his 10 starts in conference play were also tied for the freshman program record. The freshman saved some of his best work for the postseason, during which he made four starts and posted three quality starts with a team-best 2.31 ERA.
Pluta, an Illinois native, was tabbed as the 2025 NCBWA Stopper of the Year following one of the most dominant seasons of relief pitching in Arizona Baseball history. He set a program single-season record with 14 saves, earned a trio of wins, struck out 34 over 37 innings of work, and allowed runs in just 3-of-30 appearances on the year. Pluta's 14 saves not only set the program record but led the Big 12 Conference and ranked tied for fourth most among all Division I players. His 1.46 ERA is the lowest posted by a Wildcat with 20+ relief appearances during the StatCrew era (1998-current). Pluta was also picked as an All-American by Perfect Game (2nd team), the NCBWA (1st team), and the ABCA (1st team).
Arizona's All-Time Baseball America All-American Pitchers
1985: Joe Magrane (3rd team)
1986: Gil Heredia (3rd team)
1989: Scott Erickson (1st team)
2007: Preston Guilmet (1st team)
2012: Kurt Heyer (2nd team)
2015: Bobby Dalbec (2nd team)
2025: Tony Pluta (2nd team)
Arizona's All-Time Baseball America Freshman All-Americans
1999: Ben Diggins (P, 1st team)
1999: Shelley Duncan (OF, 1st)
2001: Marc Kaiser (UTIL, 2nd team)
2003: Brad Boyer (3B, 1st team)
2004: Jason Donald (SS, 2nd team)
2012: Riley Moore (C, 1st team)
2017: Nick Quintana (3B, 2nd team)
2019: Austin Wells (C, 1st team)
2019: Dayton Dooney (DH, 2nd team)
2021: Daniel Susac (C, 1st team)
2021: Jacob Berry (DH, 1st team)
2025: Smith Bailey (P, 2nd team)
* Release Courtesy of Arizona Athletics *
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