​A three-year letterwinner who played baseball, basketball, and football at Fulton High School in Fulton, Missouri, Dustin Hagens performed well on the diamond, helping lead the team to the semifinals of the state championship tournament in his senior year, but drew very little scouting buzz and attention as an unheralded, undersized right-hander. Prior to his senior season with the Hornets, he announced his commitment to attend the University of Missouri St. Louis after graduating, and because his name was not announced in the 2023 MLB Draft, the right-hander took his talents to the DII Tritons.Hagens appeared in 13 games for UMSL in his freshman year in 2024, starting 11 of them. Pitching exactly 50.0 innings, the right-hander posted a 9.90 ERA, allowing 45 hits, walking 49, and striking out 80. His sophomore season was almost a carbon copy; appearing in 16 games, starting 11, the right-hander posted a 5.46 ERA in 56.0 innings, allowing 44 hits, walking 58, and striking out 84.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHead coach Scott Eul moved Hagens to the Tritons bullpen in 2026, and the move paid dividends for the right-hander, helping him as a pitcher. Appearing in 20 games, the right-hander posted a 4.58 ERA in 39.1 innings, allowing 32 hits, walking 18, and striking out 57 while locking down 6 saves for the 34-22 squad, which made the baseball program’s first NCAA appearance since the 2023 season.The right-hander hasn’t grown or put on much weight since graduating high school, and is still a bit undersized, standing 6’1” and being listed at 160-pounds. Hagens throws from a low-three-quarter arm slot, with a leg lift, hip coil, and loose, whippy arm somewhat reminiscent of a right-handed Aroldis Chapman. He pushes off the mound well and gets great extension. He throws a three-pitch mix that includes a four-seam fastball and a breaking ball.His fastball sits in the low-to-mid-90s, reportedly topping out as high as 97 MPH. Thanks to its spin rates and the right-hander’s arm slot, the pitch has some run and rising life and has been most effective up in the zone.The right-hander throws two breaking balls, a curveball and a slider, but the two sometimes bleed into each other and make it difficult to differentiate one from the other. Despite that, both have been exceptional pitches against DII competition. Both possess above-average spin rates, giving them big shape and depth.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe elephant in the room, of course, is the right-hander’s control. In 145.1 innings with UMSL, two-thirds of them coming as a starting pitcher, Hagens walked 125 batters, four less than the 121 hits he allowed. His walk rate improved in 2026, when he was used exclusively out of the bullpen, but he still wound up walking 18 batters in 39.1 innings, a well below-average 10.4% BB%. The right-hander needs to work on repeating the moving parts in his delivery such that he is not flying open and his arm is on target to the plate on