Fayetteville Super Regional: Anonymous Coaches Break Down Arkansas, NC State

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Arkansas

Coach: Dave Van Horn

Postseason history: 13th super regional appearance (third straight). Seeking 10th trip to Omaha and third straight.

Postseason route: No. 1 seed in Fayetteville Regional. Went 3-1, defeating Nebraska in regional final.

Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Razorbacks)

“I’ve never seen anything like Kevin Kopps. You could go back to the best pitchers that have thrown in this league over time. You could go back to David Price, Luke Hochevar, has anybody ever been that dominant? To not talk about that would not be giving any credit to the truth. The truth is, has anyone ever been that dominant, that good? You can see the stuff on TV, you see the hitters and you think, ‘What’s wrong with these guys, they’re just not hitting it?’ Then you get to the field and you see the spin on that slider. It’s at such another level, the spin on that ball and stuff. Nobody’s figured him out yet. Everybody’s been waiting, when he’s going to get tired or fatigued but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s been crazy. To me, it’s absolutely crazy what he’s done.

“It’s Kopps and then what Casey Opitz has done behind that plate handling all those arms is just incredible to me. It’s a very good team. A lot of guys can hurt you. He’s been incredible behind home plate.

“What Robert Moore has done has been impressive. It feels like he has a thing for the moment. That’s the thing that’s been most impressive. Most of those hits come at big times. He’s just a guy that isn’t fazed by the moment and it’s to the point where when he’s up in the moment, you think something is going to happen. That’s what’s been most impressive.

“You’re talking about a really good catcher, an unbelievable center fielder and a really good middle infield.

“You talk about all the home runs they hit and the defense, but the separator has been they’ve gotten some good starting pitching and then Kopps.”

Position	Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	RBI	SB
C	Casey Opitz	.254	.364	.348	181	2	16	5
1B	Brady Slavens	.290	349	.560	207	13	60	2
2B	Robert Moore	.282	.385	.541	220	14	48	6
3B	Cullen Smith	.268	.409	.528	142	10	31	2
SS	Jalen Battles	.267	.369	.403	206	6	41	5
LF	Zack Gregory	.245	.436	.412	102	3	19	2
CF	Christian Franklin	.281	.425	.557	210	13	54	10
RF	Cadyn Wallace	.281	.370	.496	228	13	43	0
DH	Matt Goodheart	.270	.394	.500	196	13	37	3
Position	Name	W	L	ERA	IP	BB	SO	SV
SP	Patrick Wicklander	6	1	2.17	71	22	79	0
SP	Lael Lockheart	3	3	4.50	56	16	66	0
SP	Caleb Bolden	2	0	4.50	44	24	44	1
RP	Kevin Kopps	12	0	0.68	80	15	120	11
RP	Caden Monke	5	1	3.90	32	21	39	0

North Carolina State

Coach: Elliott Avent

Postseason history: Fifth super regional appearance (first since 2013). Seeking third trip to Omaha and first since 2013.

Postseason route: No. 2 seed in Ruston Regional. Went 3-0, defeating Louisiana Tech in regional final.

Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Wolfpack)

“I thought they were awesome. I thought the lineup was awesome. They do damage throughout, they’ve got good at bats throughout. The issue early on was the bullpen, but their starting pitching is really good. They were able to shorten what they needed in the bullpen with good starts. They just weren’t throwing the ball well early in the year. When we played them, I thought they could go to Omaha. Their lineup is scary top to bottom.

“They play defense all over the place. At times in the past, their defense would be their weaker point They’ve had teams in the past that were just OK defensively. But this year they have speed in the outfield, Jose Torres is awesome at shortstop. I would probably say I thought the issue would be the bullpen, but it hasn’t been that way.

“To compete with Arkansas, you’ve got to be able to score and NC State can bang with them. They can mash. They’ve got five good arms. After that, they’re in trouble. They’ve got two good lefties in the pen and three righthanders that can throw multiple pitches for strikes. They’re very competitive. This will not be a cake walk.”

Position	Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	HR	RBI	SB
C	Luca Tresh	.236	.312	.486	208	14	41	1
1B	Austin Murr	.329	.379	.524	210	7	31	4
2B	J.T. Jarrett	.251	.341	.341	179	1	22	3
3B	Vojtech Mensik	.231	.303	.335	182	4	21	10
SS	Jose Torres	.294	.352	.514	177	7	40	5
LF	Jonny Butler	.389	.463	.678	180	12	46	15
CF	Tyler McDonough	.351	.439	.664	211	15	43	13
RF	Devonte Brown	.265	.375	.525	181	12	39	4
DH	Terrell Tatum	.321	.431	.554	168	11	35	15
Position	Name	W	L	ERA	IP	BB	SO	SV
SP	Reid Johnston	8	2	3.9	88	21	86	1
SP	Sam Highfill	7	2	3.95	80	22	72	0
SP	Matt Willadsen	5	3	4.97	80	25	68	0
RP	Evan Justice	4	2	4.47	50	24	62	10
RP	Chris Villaman	5	2	4.42	57	16	68	2

Schedule

Friday, 6 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Sunday, 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2 or ESPNU) if necessary