Root Earns Second SEC Pitcher of the Week Honor

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – For the second time this season, Razorback ace Zach Root is the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

The junior left-hander, who shared this week’s honor with LSU’s Anthony Eyanson, twirled a career-long eight scoreless innings and tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts in Arkansas’ 9-0 series-opening shutout win against Texas. Root allowed two hits and issued a pair of walks, logging his team-leading fourth quality start and team-high sixth win in the process.

Behind Root’s dominant performance on the mound, the Razorback pitching staff combined for a two-hit shutout in the series opener against the top ranked Longhorns. Arkansas went on secure its first weekend series sweep against Texas in program history as well as its first weekend series sweep against the No. 1 team in the country since the 2001 campaign.

Root, who boasts a 6-3 record with a 3.95 ERA and a team-high 92 strikeouts in 12 starts, earned his first SEC weekly honor of the season on March 31 after tossing 7.2 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in the Hogs’ series-opening shutout win at nationally ranked Vanderbilt to help lead Arkansas to its first series sweep in Nashville since 1994.

The Fort Myers, Fla., native is the second Razorback in as many years to garner multiple SEC pitcher of the week honors in a season. Hagen Smith earned the weekly honor twice in 2024, when he became the first Arkansas pitcher to achieve the feat since Kevin Kopps earned the conference’s top weekly honor twice during his historic 2021 campaign.

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