FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Dean Curley took Arkansas ace Zach Root deep to left field in the fifth inning. It was one of just two hits Tennessee’s offense mustered all evening in a 4-3 super regional series opening loss at Arkansas.
Root dominated the Vols’ lineup and out-dueled Marcus Phillips in a low scoring affair at Baum-Walker Stadium. Here’s how it went down.
Zach Root Rolls
In the first meeting three weeks prior, Tennessee torched Arkansas’ starter Zach Root for four runs in 3.2 innings pitched in what was his second worst outing of the regular season. Root responded with a dominant performance in his second chance against the Vols.
Root was in a groove from the start, retiring Tennessee’s top two batters on just two pitches on his way to retiring the first 12 Volunteers he faced.
The left-handed pitcher lived ahead in the strike zone with 60 of his 92 pitches coming for strikes. Root struck out six Vols but his success came more from inducting weak contact, especially on the ground.
When Tennessee did finally get a baserunner against Root, they made it count. Dalton Bargo reached base on a fielding error to lead off the fifth inning and Dean Curley followed it up by taking a 3-2 pitch 393 feet into the Hog Pen, giving the Vols a 2-1 lead.
But Root kept rolling after that, retiring eight of the final 10 batters he faced after the blast. He finished the day allowing just one hit and three baserunners.
Tony Vitello Was About As Mad As He’s Been All Season
It would be difficult for Tony Vitello to be more upset than he was when he earned his ejection in game three of the Auburn series. But the Vols’ skipper might have been even more upset when Andrew Fischer grounded into an inning ending double play in the sixth inning.
Walking back to the first base dugout, Root continuously pointed at and yelled explicatives at Fischer. No umpire intervened, leading to the Tennessee dugout and Vitello becoming irate.
Vitello even pumped up the Arkansas fans jeering him as he made his was back to the dugout. The umpires met and eventually gave both teams warnings. Here’s a look at the sequence.
Zach Root: ‘Fuck you, fuck you. Get the fuck out of here’ towards Andrew Fischer
Waiting for the Pearl clutching
So, it’s not just a few teams 🤷♂️.
Arkansas vs Tennessee ✅ pic.twitter.com/y9V6NIYzAE
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 7, 2025
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Marcus Phillips Evades Trouble To Turn In A Strong Outing
Marcus Phillips lived in trouble during his outing with the Arkansas leadoff batter reaching base in the first three innings.
The Razorbacks put two-on with one-out in the first inning before Ryder Helfrick grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. Arkansas opened the scoring in the second inning after the first two batters reached and Cam Kozeal eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Phillips looked like he might be reaching the end of the line in the third inning when Arkansas loaded the bases with one-out. But, again, Phillips got an inning ending double play to keep the Razorbacks from extending their lead.
Ironically, Arkansas did its most damage off of Phillips in the only inning the right-hander retired the first two batters he faced. Logan Maxwell worked a two-out walk in the fifth inning and Ryder Helrick hit a two-run, wallscraping home run that was just 83 mph off the bat and majorly assisted by the wind.
But despite the constant traffic on the bases, Phillips turned in a strong outing. He allowed four runs in 5.1 innings pitched despite Arkansas totaling eight hits and having 11 baserunners against him. It wasn’t a dominant performance but it was good against a strong Arkansas offense.
Gage Gaeckle Shuts The Door
Arkansas went to one of its top relievers Gage Gaeckle to open up the eighth inning and the right hander closed out the game.
Gaeckle retired the bottom of Tennessee’s lineup in order in the eighth inning. Andrew Fischer got one run back for the Vols in the ninth inning, extending his on-base streak to 64 games, but it was all Tennessee’s offense could muster.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee’s season is on the brink. Game two of the best of three series is at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. Tom Hart, Chris Burke and Kyle Peterson are on the call for ESPN.
