NC State Downs Arkansas in Super Regional Game 2

No. 12 NC State Baseball (34-18) bounced back on Saturday afternoon in game two of its NCAA Super Regional series with a 6-5 win over No. 1 Arkansas (50-12) at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville,  Arkansas.

With the win, the Wolfpack forces a winner-take-all game Sunday to advance to the College World Series.

Arkansas struck first on Charlie Welch’s two-run shot to left in the second inning, but Tyler McDonough cut the Pack’s deficit in half in the third as he pushed Vojtech Mensik across with his RBI groundout to second.

The Pack pulled ahead in the fourth as Jose Torres, Luca Tresh and Mensik drove in a combined four runs in as many at-bats by way of the home run. Torres hit his second of the series and ninth of the year, while Tresh is now tied for the lead on the roster with 15 and Mensik tallied his fifth of the season.

Mensik and Tresh both turned in multi-hit games as Mensik went 2-for-2 and Tresh went 2-for-4.

J.T. Jarrett extended NC State’s lead to 6-2 in the sixth, driving in Tresh from third with his RBI groundout to the shortstop, but the Razorbacks surged back in the seventh in an attempted comeback on a Brady Slavens solo shot, two-out error, and RBI single with a runner at second. 

Sam Highfill (8-2) tossed a strong 6.1 innings to help propel the Pack to its win, as he scattered just two hits and surrendered three earned runs in the game. 

Evan Justice tallied his 11th save of the season as he hurled the final 2.2 innings of the game. He did not allow an earned run to score and did not allow a runner to reach base in the eighth and ninth to hold off the Razorbacks.

The southpaw is now tied for fifth in program history for most saves in a single season.

The first pitch of game three Sunday is slated for 6 p.m. ET in Fayetteville, and it will be broadcast on either ESPNU or ESPN2. There will also be a free audio stream on WKNC 88.1 and the TuneIn App.