Anyone watching the television broadcast of NC State’s Super Regional against Arkansas quickly became well aware of the task the Wolfpack was facing: Razorbacks superstar pitcher Kevin Kopps, baseball’s likely Golden Spikes Award winner, its version of the Heisman Trophy.

Kopps' last name led to a lot of easy one-liners when NC State was able to scratch three runs across, most notably a solo homer to left by freshman shortstop Jose Torres in the top of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie. Kopps had allowed just three homers all season coming into Sunday, but a two-run shot to right by junior left fielder Jonny Butler in the third inning and Torres’ blast were part of three earned runs allowed by Kopps, half of his season-long total of six in his previous 81.2 innings pitched over 32 games.

Only twice had Kopps allowed more than one walk in an appearance, and never more than two. He had three on Sunday, albeit one intentionally. Against an Arkansas lineup well-noted for its patience at the plate (it led the nation in walks), NC State was able to work counts itself, driving up Kopps' pitch count to 118 by the time he was relieved.

It was the first inning that proved that Kopps was not invincible. Sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough smashed a hard-hit single to right in the game’s second at bat, and then Butler crushed a long, loud out to dead center, nearly going the distance in the deepest part of the ballpark.

In his second at bat, Butler managed to pull it more, and ,Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn noted, perhaps took advantage of a slight wind blowing out to right, to get it just past the outstretched arms of leaping center fielder Christian Franklin.

“We had a good scouting report, Coach did a really good job on that, and I was able to piece a couple balls together and get one out of there. It felt really good,” Butler said.

For much of the game, the 2-1 lead held up thanks to strong pitching performances from freshmen Matt Willadsen and Chris Villaman, two of a heralded group of second-year hurlers signed by head coach Elliott Avent in the 2020 recruiting class. That included game two winner Sam Highfill, among others.

“These guys have grown up so much. I think Matt Willadsen grown up maybe more than anybody on this staff, him and Chris Villaman both,” Avent noted. “If you take where they were mid-year, which was good and where they are now, they are two entirely different pitchers.”

Willadsen was able to pitch around trouble and allowed just one unearned run on two hits in four innings. He walked four but also struck out four, and he stranded runners in scoring positions in the second, third and fourth innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the second.

“We had seen a lot of video on him,” Van Horn said. “The guys knew what was coming, but he kept them off balance. The first inning he got a couple of quick outs from our leadoff man and our three-hole hitter on ground balls off of changeups, and that’s what we didn’t want to do. He just pitched really well.”

Villaman took over and delivered scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth, but in the seventh, after getting the first two outs, surrendered a line drive homer to freshman Cayden Wallace that just cleared the fence in left to tie the score.

“It fired everybody up because all of a sudden it’s 2-2,” Van Horn said. “It looks like we’ve got a chance to hold them and get the lead. Kevin went out and got them out in the eighth and then in the bottom of the eighth, we didn’t score.”

That’s because redshirt junior lefty Evan Justice delivered, again. The Pack’s opening day starter has thrived in his role as a closer and ace reliever for NC State. A dominant 1-2-3 eighth inning that included a pair of strikeouts, reminiscent of how Kopps may have closed out a game, set the stage for Torres’ heroics in the eighth.

Torres noted his game plan was simple: wait on Kopps' cutter. After the game was over, Torres talked with his father, and his dad also noticed that Kopps had been throwing Torres a steady diet of cutters during the game.

“I was just sitting on cutter and cutter, then focused on it, and I got it,” Torres noted. “I was able to put a good swing on it and got a home run out of it.”

“[Kopps] made a mistake and I don’t even know how much of a mistake it was,” Van Horn added. “I just think Torres went down and hit a good pitch and hit it a long way.”

Ironically, two homers were enough to beat a team that relied heavily on homers (Arkansas led the country in home runs) and an ace pitcher to win 50 games and never lose a weekend series, until NC State came to Fayetteville.

Torres' dinger, will long live in Wolfpack lore, especially after Justice made it hold up with three groundouts in the bottom of the ninth to set off the dog pile celebration near home pitch amidst the joy of realizing that the Pack is going to Omaha.

“It’s all about the players,” Avent said. “It’s all about these players who have worked so hard and committed to one another. They understood how you can overcome adversity which will help them for the rest of their lives.”

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook