Kevin Kopps’ five innings pitched at South Carolina were his most dominant to date.
The Arkansas relief pitcher did not allow a base runner in two appearances. He struck out 12 batters and threw 43 of 59 pitches for strikes.
Kopps struck out all six batters he faced to close the final two innings of the No. 1 Razorbacks’ 5-1 victory over the No. 11 Gamecocks on Friday night at Founders Park. The right hander threw his signature pitch, the cutter, over and over for called strikes or swings and misses.
“That’s one of the better pitchers I’ve seen in my college career,” said Brady Allen, South Carolina’s junior leadoff hitter who struck out and grounded out in two at-bats against Kopps. “He would throw that low fastball, he also had a cutter or slider, as well as an up-and-down curveball. That cutter looked just like the fastball coming out of his hand, and then…it would just run as much as any pitch I’ve ever seen. It was just real difficult to pick up. You couldn’t see spin.”
South Carolina coach Mark Kingston called Kopps one of the best closers in college baseball.
“His statistics are ridiculous and he’s done this to everybody,” Kingston said. “We didn’t have an answer for that breaking ball. Guys came back to the dugout saying they just couldn’t see it and it was one of the harder ones they’ve seen. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap. The guy is one of the best closers in the country, on the No. 1 team. It’s pretty clear that’s why we struggled.”
In 37 innings over 18 appearances this season, Kopps has a 0.96 ERA. He leads the Razorbacks with 66 strikeouts and opponents are batting .177 against him.
His outings have been especially impressive since SEC play began. He has pitched in 10 of the Razorbacks’ 18 conference games, totaling 27 1/3 innings. He has 48 strikeouts and 6 walks in conference play, and SEC hitters are batting .163 against him.
Kopps’ SEC-only ERA is 0.66.
When the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association releases its Stopper of the Year Award midseason watch list next week, Kopps will be one of the most recognizable names. Because of a bad 2020 season, he was not on the preseason watch list for the award, which goes to college baseball’s best closer.
That makes his 2021 success all the more eye opening.
Kopps has pitched in several high-stakes situations, evidenced by his 6 wins and 4 saves, including 3 wins and 4 saves in SEC play. His two-inning appearance Friday was a non-save situation. He earned a three-inning save during Arkansas’ 6-1 victory Thursday.
Kopps replaced starter Patrick Wicklander in Friday’s series-clinching victory. Wicklander threw a career-high seven innings and did not walk a batter for the second time in 25 career starts.
“They didn’t walk anybody tonight and so you really had no choice (but to be aggressive) because they did such a good job today, these two guys, Wicklander and Kopps,” Kingston said. “They have such good stuff and they did such a good job of pounding the zone that you try to be patient and you were going to find yourself 1-2 every count. It’s a catch-22. When you face great pitching you’ve got to pick one or the other and you’ve got to go with the flow of the game.
“When the other team is not walking guys and they’ve got great stuff, you’ve got to be aggressive and hope that you square it up. And if you don’t you’re going to have some quick innings.”
Because Kopps threw 34 pitches the night before, Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said he considered bringing in a set-up man before Kopps on Friday, but Razorbacks pitching coach Matt Hobbs said that was unnecessary.
“Coach Hobbs just looked at me and said, ‘Kevin’s fine.’ And I said, ‘OK,’” Van Horn said. “Good call by Coach Hobbs.”