No. 1 Texas bludgeoned by No. 11 Arkansas in 9-0 loss

A career performance by right-hander Zach Root and nine runs scored between the second and fourth innings propelled the No. 11 Arkansas Razorbacks to a dominant 9-0 win over the No. 1 Texas Longhorns on Thursday at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

In the first conference matchup between the old Southwest Conference rivals since 1991, the Razorbacks got the first quality start from its starting pitching since March as Root set his career highs with 11 strikeouts and eight innings pitched.

Root was electric from the start, using a wipeout changeup to strike out the side in the first inning and retire the first six Longhorns who came to the plate. Texas only managed two hits while being shut out for the first time all season in the most lopsided defeat the Longhorns have suffered under first-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle.

With Texas right-hander Ruger Riojas making his second weekend-opening start in place of injured left-hander Jared Spencer, the UTSA transfer suffered the worst performance of his career as Arkansas took advantage of flat breaking balls and then timed up fastballs.

The Razorbacks consistently barreled up the baseball, blasting two home runs and two doubles while settling for multiple other outs at the warning track.

A two-run home run in the second inning and a three-run home run in the third inning opened up a 5-0 lead that felt insurmountable for the Longhorns with Root in rhythm on the mound.

Two RBI singles and a two-run double in the fourth by the Razorbacks finished the scoring as Riojas gave up nine runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings.

Right-hander Cody Howard and left-hander Bryce Navarre were able to finish the game without any further and preserve the bullpen for an attempt at taking the series by winning on Friday and Saturday.

First pitch on Friday is at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network.