All Hogs

Fiery Root matched against superior talent in CWS opener

Bob Stephens

Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Zach Root throws against the Tennessee Volunteers in an NCAA Super Regional in Fayetteville, Ark.
Arkansas Razorbacks pitcher Zach Root throws against the Tennessee Volunteers in an NCAA Super Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images
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Zach Root seems to combine the grit and competitiveness of a perpetual underdog with the unshakeable confidence of an unquestionable star.

He's likely to play both of those roles again Saturday night when the pitching ace of the Arkansas Razorbacks squares off against LSU's most talented thrower.

It'll be a battle of superb southpaws when LSU Tiger Kade Anderson — who might be the first pick in the Major League Baseball draft next month — and Root toe the slab in their College World Series opener.

ESPN will televise Saturday's 6 p.m. showdown between the two highest seeds in the Series: No. 3 Arkansas and No. 6 LSU.

It'll be a rematch between the magnificent moundsmen who were both effective May 9 but didn't figure in the decision as the Bayou Bengals scratched out a 5-4 victory in 10 innings before a packed Alex Box Stadium crowd in Baton Rouge.

Root worked six effective frames, allowing two earned runs on five hits (two were solo home runs) while walking none and whiffing six.

Root left with a 3-2 lead as his teammates touched Anderson for three earned runs on seven hits (also two homers) and a walk. He struck out 10 Hogs.

While Anderson's draft stock has been rising, Root has also been considered a potential first round pick when the MLB draft occurs July 13-14.

Anderson was tabbed as the No. 1 pick in an ESPN mock draft last week by writer Jonathan Mayo, up from No. 3 in his previous speculation list. That same mock draft predicted Root as the 38th pick to the New York Yankees.

ESPN's Jim Callis released his most recent mock draft Thursday and has Anderson going No. 2. The top pick has long figured to be high school sensation Ethan Holliday.

Holliday is the son of seven-time MLB All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday, who hit 314 career homers with the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies.

Ethan is also the brother of Baltimore Orioles' second baseman Jackson Holliday, who hits lead-off at age 21 for Baltimore three years after he was the top pick in the MLB draft.

If Ethan is the top pick, he and Jackson will be the first brothers to both be No. 1 overall picks in baseball.

The only time it's ever happened in any of the major North American pro sports leagues was in the NFL with quarterback brothers Peyton (1998) and Eli Manning (2004) being No. 1 overall picks.

The younger Holliday was a 6-foot-4 senior at Stillwater, Okla., a shortstop who might play third base in the pros. He signed a lucrative NIL deal with Adidas in January; Jackson had done the same following his senior year and prior to the draft.

Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy will be the top Hog drafted, likely somewhere in mid-first round. He's one of the three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, college baseball's equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy.

A shortstop and top hitter, both for average and power, Aloy might win the Golden Spikes Award partly because he makes the game look so easy, as witnessed by this catch in the Super Regional.

LSU's Anderson has to be considered a can't miss prospect just to be in the discussion of maybe going ahead of Holliday in the draft.

Anderson is the best college arm in the draft. He's athletic. He's got a legit four-pitch mix. And he throws strikes.

Like Root, he touches upper 90s with his fastball and can be overpowering. Root showed that in the Super Regional when he blew two fastballs past Tennessee star Andrew Fischer, who had been taunting the Baum-Walker Stadium fans in Fayetteville.

When Root overcame a 3-1 count in Fischer's favor to get the emotional strikeout and fire up the crowd even more, the Hogs' salty southpaw followed it up by unleashing a series of gestures and choice words in Fischer's direction in a later at-bat.

Root has enjoyed a successful, but slightly up-and-down season as Arkansas' top starter in his first and surely last season as a Razorback.

His record is 8-5 in 17 starts with a 3.59 earned run average. In 92.2 innings, he has 117 strikeouts with 31 walks and 77 hits allowed.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-hander spent his first two collegiate seasons at East Carolina before joining the Hogs via the transfer portal.

His fiery mound presence might be partly a need to show he's a legit SEC star, even though East Carolina also boasts a terrific tradition.

But Root wasn't considered the most talented pitcher in the Fayetteville Super Regional, either. That title went to Tennessee lefty Liam Doyle, tabbed to be drafted eighth by Callis.

Some might also have considered Tennessee's other starter, Marcus Phillips, as having more potential than Root.

Root out-performed Phillips in the opener of the super regional and had LSU's Anderson beaten until the Hogs' bullpen coughed up the lead.

Anderson might be the one expected to shine brightest Saturday night, but Root will share that spotlight. And, like always, will feel he has something to prove.

That might be enough to get the Hogs past LSU in the all-important opening showdown between the only two SEC teams at the Series.

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Bob Stephens
BOB STEPHENS

Bob Stephens won more than a dozen awards as a sportswriter and columnist in Northwest Arkansas from 1980 to 2003. He started as a senior for the 1975 Fayetteville Bulldogs’ state championship basketball team, and was drafted that summer in the 19th round by the St. Louis Cardinals but signed instead with Norm DeBriyn's Razorbacks, playing shortstop and third base. Bob has written for the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, New Jersey Star-Ledger, and many more. He covered the Razorbacks in three Final Fours, three College World Series, six New Year’s Day bowl games, and witnessed many track national championships. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Pati. Follow on X: @BobHogs56

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