Root-led No. 11 Razorbacks blank No. 1 Longhorns in series opener

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – Zach Root could very well have been pitching for either team Thursday at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The East Carolina left-handed transfer visited both Arkansas and Texas last summer before deciding to cast his lot with the Razorbacks.


So the masterpiece Root (6-3) threw Thursday – 8 shutout innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts and 2 walks while not allowing a runner past second – was for No. 11 Arkansas, who routed No. 1 Texas 9-0.

Carson Boles and Cam Kozeal both homered for the Razorbacks (38-9, 15-7) as they used eight hits and scored all nine off their runs by the fifth inning.


Arkansas reliever Will McEntire completed the shutout by fanning the side in the ninth in the first game as conference foes in 34 years.

It ended a 10-game winning for SEC-ending Texas (38-6, 19-3), who came into the game with a five-game league over Arkansas and Tennessee.

“Yeah, really, really, really good job by Zach Root tonight, obviously,” Van Horn said. “Eight shutout innings against a very, very good baseball team. I felt like once we got the lead he continued to get better.

“He didn’t start nibbling and looking for strikeouts. He was just trying to get outs. It seemed like his breaking ball got a little better maybe the second half of the game it got a little tighter. Then he had them all going.

“He had a really good change-up, kept it away. A lot of run and sink. He just did a really good job of getting the leadoff man out and throwing strike one… Just a great job.”

That was a feeling shared by Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle, in his first year with the Longhorns after leaving Texas A&M for its bitter rival.

“Everything,” Schlossnagle said of what was working for Root. “I mean we had him on a visit this summer, too, from East Carolina. He threw a fastball, slider, good curve ball and change up. He really got the change up going. Pitched ahead in the count. I mean he had a great night.”

Root, who threw 99 pitches (62 for strikes) said he got a little motivation from Razorback pitching coach Matt Hobbs.

“Yeah, definitely,” Root said. “And Hobbs came up to me yesterday and said that the fans don’t buy tickets to come watch me go four innings, so kind of took that to heart and went out there and doubled that.”

Van Horn noted that Root didn’t fight to pitch the ninth inning.

“There was no fight because he sat down on the bench,” Van Horn said. “I followed Coach Hobbs. I watched his reaction and coach basically got him in a headlock. He didn’t react too much.

“I shook his hand and said ‘great job.’ He’s smart. He knows that was enough pitches. We’ve got some big games coming up and we’re going to need that inning somewhere down the road.”

Schlossnagle was not surprised that Arkansas, who had lost six of its last nine SEC games coming into the game, came alive at the plate.

“Everybody in this league knows how great Arkansas’s team is even with the guys banged up,” Schlossnagle said. “They have guys banged up, we’re playing without our Friday Night starter, without our player of the year last year, but that’s no excuse.”

That was not the case for Texas starter Ruger Riojas (8-2), who had never given up more than four runs in any of his starts.

“Ruger’s been great for us, and he left the balls up and they made him pay,” Schlossnagle said. “Arkansas got rained out Tuesday night, right? That’s probably a blessing to have a chance to rest, reset their team get focused on the next game.

“Coach Van Horn’s staff did an awesome job and, I feel like our team was ready to play. Zach Root just wasn’t going to allow us to be in the game. Ruger had a bad night. He’s been awesome all season.”

Schlossnagle sensed Riojas might have some issues.

“I was trying to have him suck up a few innings,” Schlossnagle said. “I mean that his third start in two weeks, right? Because we did the Saturday deal against Auburn and then we brought him back on Friday to A&M and now it’s Thursday.

“I had a little bit of a premonition this could happen so it is going to be good that he gets the rest and has an extra days rest before we play next week when we play Florida, who is another great offensive team.

“So it will be interesting to see how he responds to it.”

The Razorbacks didn’t miss any mistakes that Riojas served up per Schlossnagle.

“He left some breaking balls up and they were well prepared,” Schlossnagle. “He threw a couple of good ones and tried to sneak a couple of fast balls by them, but they were well prepared.

“I mean nobody hits a good breaking ball, you have got to be able to hit the bad ones. He threw some balls in the middle of the plate, especially with two strikes and they made him pay.”

The two teams will meet Friday at 7 p.m in a game televised by the SEC Network with Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Kyle Peterson (analysis).

They also meet Saturday at 2 p.m. in a game that will be streamed by SEC Network +.

“We have pitching to compete, but we have to be good because these guys (the Razorbacks) are awesome and they have a great team,” Schlossnagle said.

The Texas coach says he will discuss the loss with his team/

“Yeah,  I mean maybe a little bit, but it’s obviously embarrassing. I mean I didn’t think… We hit some guys. We had one little misplay, not really an error, but it’s not like we kicked the ball around.

“They played awesome. Pitching, defense, timely hitting. They did all of it. We did none of it. We had good defense, so let’s move on to tomorrow. It’s way more about how we respond to this than it is what happened tonight.”

Photo by John D. James