FAYETTEVILLE — The rich got richer Monday, with Arkansas baseball adding one of the best players available in the transfer portal to its pitching staff.

East Carolina lefty Zach Root announced his commitment to the Razorbacks on social media Monday evening, becoming the 10th Division I transfer to join Arkansas this offseason. According to 64analytics, Root is ranked as the No. 2 player in the portal.

More: Where Arkansas baseball players are playing summer ball in 2024

More: Arkansas baseball: 3 important tasks for Dave Van Horn this offseason

Root was the Saturday starter for the Pirates in 2024, going 6-2 with a 3.56 ERA. He struck out 76 batters and only allowed 21 walks in 68 ⅓ innings. Root held opponents to a .228 batting average.

Root is a rising junior who hails from Florida. The lefty primarily worked out of the bullpen during his freshman season at ECU, sporting a 3-3 record and a 5.33 ERA.

Arkansas will need to replace consensus national pitcher of the year Hagen Smith and all of its weekend rotation next season. Still, the Hogs are blessed with plenty of options, and Root will add to the depth.

Freshmen Gabe Gaeckle, Colin Fisher and Hunter Dietz are all potential options. Gaeckle was the bullpen ace this spring, while the two lefties both had their seasons cut short due to injury. Gage Wood finished the year as a starter, while Ben Bybee took over as the top midweek option after Fisher’s injury.

Root is also the third potential starter added through the transfer portal. Ohio State’s Landon Beidelschies (6-7, 4.15 ERA) and Oregon State’s Aiden Jimenez have also joined the program. Jimenez missed the entire 2024 season with an injury.

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

With a big yellow lab panting behind him, Gov. John Carney signed the FY25 budget on Sunday night. He also put his signature on a one-time supplemental spending plan, a capital spending bill and Grant-in-Aid legislation providing funding for nonprofit groups throughout the state. State lawmakers also passed dozens of bills before session ended on the last day of June, but a few didn’t manage to make the cut.

The FY25 budget is $6.1 billion, an almost 9% increase in spending compared to last year. Lawmakers also signed off on a $168 million supplemental spending proposal.

“We’ve taken action to make our communities safer, protect our environment, and we continue to invest in our students and educators,” Carney said. “I’m proud that our budget makes these important investments and is also sustainable.”

The budget directs $50 million towards a goal to increase teacher salaries to a base pay of $60,000. It also adds $94 million to cover Medicaid costs and services and more than $6 million in state and federal funding to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for home health workers and people who care for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

The $1.1 billion capital improvement bill, also known as the Bond Bill, includes money for roads, schools districts and nonprofits. Highlights include $352.7 million for road projects, $27.7 million to improve water quality and $37 million toward economic development projects, which consists of a new social equity fund.

“It does all the transportation investments, incredible investments in education from elementary, secondary and higher education,” Carney said. “That’s basically the future of our economy here in our state and which drives all the revenue that makes everything possible.”

The “record-setting” $98.4 million Grant-in-Aid bill includes, for the first time, 16 nonprofits that were previously included in the budget bill. The legislation directs more than half of the money to community groups, cultural and historic entities that work on issues like mental health and substance use disorder. It also gives money to fire companies and paramedic services. WHYY also receives funding in the Grant-in-Aid bill.