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Arkansas

Zach Root ‘wouldn’t have been surprised’ if heated exchange with Andrew Fischer led to ejection

Danby:Daniel Hager•about 9 hours•

DanielHagerOn3

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Arkansas' Zach Root (33) throws a pitch during game one of the NCAA baseball tournament Fayetteville Super Regional between Tennessee and Arkansas held at Baum-Walker Stadium on Saturday, June 7, 2025. | © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arkansas opened the Fayetteville Super Regional Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 victory over Tennessee. The Razorbacks are now just one game away from their first Men’s College World Series appearance since 2022.

The exchange between Arkansas junior left-handed pitcher Zach Root and Tennessee junior first baseman Andrew Fischer however overshadowed the rest of the game, as tensions nearly boiled over into a benches clearing brawl.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, Root forced a 4-6-3 double play to get the Razorbacks out of the frame unharmed. Walking back to the dugout however, Root taunted Tennessee’s Fischer and went on an NSFW tirade. He discussed the heated moment postgame.

“I was competing and just kind of blacked out,” Root joked. The left-hander definitely backed up his smack talk, as he delivered one of the best pitching performances of the entire NCAA Tournament so far. He allowed just one hit and one earned run with six strikeouts in seven innings on the mound, propelling the Razorbacks to a 1-0 advantage in the Fayetteville Super Regional.

“It’s just a big game,” Root responded when asked about the heated exchange. “Like I said I was just competing and going out there and giving the team a chance to win. I just kind of blacked out. I just kind of got back in the dugout and was waiting to see if I was gonna get tossed or not and then I just kind of cooled down and I’m pretty sure we scored and won the inning. So I got a longer rest time and was able to cool down.”

He was then asked if he was concerned that he would get tossed. His answer was simple.

“No, but I wasn’t surprised if I was going to be.”

Arkansas jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a wild pitch thrown by Tennessee right-handed pitcher Marcus Phillips. Tennessee jumped in front in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run hit by Dean Curley, but the Razorbacks rode a Ryder Helfrick two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth and a Charles Davalan RBI-single in the bottom of the sixth to a 4-3 win.

With Auburn‘s loss to Coastal Carolina in the Auburn Super Regional, just three SEC teams are remaining in the NCAA Tournament (LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas). At most, the conference will get just two teams to Omaha as either Arkansas or Tennessee will eliminate each other.

The Hogs will go for the Fayetteville Super Regional victory on Sunday at 3:00 pm EST.