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Arkansas pitcher Zach Root was at the center of a controversial moment in Game 1 of the Fayetteville Super Regional on Saturday.
After recording a big double play, Root was extremely emotional coming off the field and had some choice words for Tennessee’s Andrew Fischer. The outburst caught the attention of fans and media, with some calling for Root to be ejected.
Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello, who has a well-earned reputation for his on-field emotions, said he had no problems with how Root conducted himself.
“The guy was fired up, man,” Vitello said. “The way he threw, you could argue he could have done a cartwheel if he wanted to and there’s nothing wrong with it. I got no beef with that. Those are the guys … that you like being around. You don’t want to be around those guys that don’t want to compete.”
However, Vitello did express some frustrations over the consistency — or lack thereof — in how the moment was officiated. Vitello said it was a much different umpiring style than the one his team dealt with last weekend in the Knoxville Regional. Notably, Tennessee’s Cannon Peebles was ejected in the final game of that regional for saying something to an umpire — and was thus suspended for Game 1 of the Supers.
“My issue is not with him, it was with … maybe a little PTSD. That was not the same … It wasn’t the same as what we just dealt with last weekend. But it’s a different [umpiring] crew, too. And these guys would not be in the Super Regional if they weren’t highly-qualified at what they do. And I don’t know if there was any missed calls or anything, but that’s where my frustration came from.”
Umpires warned both Tennessee and Arkansas following Root’s outburst.
Here’s video of Vitello’s full comments:
Arkansas defeated Tennessee 4-3 on Saturday in Game 1 of the Super Regional. Game 2 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. A Tennessee win would force a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday while an Arkansas victory would send the Hogs to the College World Series in Omaha.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
