A promising Blue Raider pitcher, Steve Smith was critically injured in a traffic accident in 1976 and was not expected walk again. He returned to MT that fall in a wheelchair and through hard work and determination, was pitching again by spring. In the final conference game against Murray State with the championship on the line, trailing 2-0 and runners on base, Smith pitched MT to a 5-2 win.
As a result of Smith's recovery and success, his family, including his father, Reese Smith Jr., a fellow Hall of Famer, became even more involved with MT, raising money to light the baseball diamond, construct the Stephen B. Smith Clubhouse and remodel the Blue Raider Athletic Association Blue Diamond Room. With his brother, Mark, also a former Blue Raider pitcher, Steve Smith has endowed baseball scholarships.
