N.C. State ousts No. 1 Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — North Carolina State freshman shortstop Jose Torres hit a shot heard round the college baseball world Sunday, homering off likely Golden Spikes Award winner Kevin Kopps leading off the top of the ninth inning, and the Wolfpack (34-12) stunned top-seeded and top-ranked Arkansas 3-2 to earn a berth in the College World Series.
Torres’ blast came after the Razorbacks (50-13) knotted the score at 2 in the the seventh on a two-out solo homer by Cayden Wallace.
Kopps, the front-runner for college baseball’s top award who entered the game with a 0.66 ERA and a 12-0 record with 11 saves this season, was tabbed to make his first start of the season with his team on the brink of elimination and after Kopps (12-1) threw the final two innings in a 6-5 loss Saturday. Kopps, who had allowed just six runs in 80 1/3 innings this season, surrendered three runs on seven hits in eight-plus innings, striking out nine.
Freshman Matt Willadsen started for the Wolfpack, allowing only an unearned run on two hits in four innings. Chris Villaman pitched the next three innings, yielding two hits and a run. Evan Justice (5-2) didn’t allow a hit in working the final two innings to pick up the win.
Southeastern Conference champion Arkansas had been the consensus No. 1 team in the polls most of the season, and it hadn’t lost a best-ofthree series since May 2019. The Razorbacks also routed the Wolfpack 21-2 in Friday’s series opener, but N.C. State held off a late rally by Arkansas on Saturday to force the deciding game.
The Wolfpack started the season 4-9 overall and 1-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference but later reached the league tournament title game, losing 1-0 to Duke.
› Virginia 4, Dallas Baptist 0
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Griff McGarry struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings as Virginia beat Dallas Baptist University to force a third game in their super regional. The Cavaliers (34-25) improved to 5-0 this year in NCAA tournament elimination games and will face the Patriots (41-17) once more, with the winner moving on to the CWS.
Zack Gelof gave Virginia a 1-0 lead with a line drive homer to lead off the eighth, and Alex Tappen hit a threerun homer with two outs in the inning.
The Patriots’ Andrew Benefield broke up McGarry’s no-hit bid with a lead-off double in the seventh. Brandon Neeck (2-0) earned the win in relief, and Kyle Whitten pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.
› Notre Dame 9, Mississippi State 1
STARKVILLE, Miss. — No. 9 hitter David LaManna slugged a three-run homer to cap a four-run fourth inning, catapulting No. 10 overall seed Notre Dame over No. 7 seed Mississippi State and setting up a one-game showdown for a CWS berth.
The Bulldogs (44-16) led early before the Fighting Irish (34-12) poured it on at the plate, and now they’re set for a Monday rubber match.