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Game 1 of the Fayetteville Super Regional between Tennessee and Arkansas will pit Marcus Phillips against Zach Root.
The Razorbacks announced on Friday that Root will get the start on the mound for them when they welcome the Vols to Baum-Walker Stadium. Root, a 6-foot-2 lefty, is 7-5 on the season with a 3.78 ERA. In 85.2 innings of work, he has 113 strikeouts against 29 walks with a 1.23 WHIP.
Tennessee is rolling with Phillips, which puts ace Liam Doyle in line to potentially start Game 2.
Doyle, the SEC Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, has been the Vols’ Game 1 starter for most of the season. But he had a heavy workload last week during the Knoxville Regional. He threw 104 pitches in 6.2 innings of work last Friday, then threw another 31 pitches across 2.1 innings in a relief effort on Monday.
Phillips, typically the Game 2 starter, has a 4-4 record this season with a 3.71 ERA. In 77.2 innings of work, Phillips has 93 strikeouts with 32 walks and a 1.28 WHIP.
The junior righty from Sioux Falls started Game 1 of Tennessee’s weekend series with Arkansas during the regular season as well. In a 10-7 win on May 15, Phillips pitched 4.1 innings before handing it off to the pen. Root was tagged with the loss that day after the Vols put 7 hits and 4 runs on him in 3.2 innings.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN. Game 2 takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. The winner advances to the College World Series. Arkansas is favored by 1.5 in Game 1, via DraftKings.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
