FAYETTEVILLE — Following a lackluster offensive showing in Game 1 of the NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional on Friday, North Carolina State finally flipped the switch in the fourth inning Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 2-1 in the home half of the inning, the Wolfpack tattooed Arkansas reliever Ryan Costeiu in his first full inning to the tune of four runs on the strength of three home runs in the span of four batters. NC State rode its first outburst of the weekend and that momentum to a 6-5 victory over the Razorbacks.
The teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Terrell Tatum led off the Wolfpack fourth with a sharply hit single to right. Jose Torres followed with a lengthy nine-pitch at bat in which he fouled off four pitches after falling behind 0-2. The shortstop then hammered a 2-2 pitch to left field for a two-run home run, giving NC State a 3-2 lead.
Five pitches later, Luca Tresh added solo home run off Costeiu. Vojtech Mensik capped the inning with the final long ball to center field.
Arkansas trailed 5-2 before Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn elected to bring left hander Caden Monke out of the bullpen.
“I think a couple of those, at least one of them, that wasn’t a bad pitch,” Van Horn said. “The first one was kind of down and away and he just went down and got it, hit it out of the park. Might have even been a changeup. But you know, missing some spots."
Costeiu has allowed a team-high eight home runs this season, two more than any other Razorback. He also gave up multiple home runs in an outing at Mississippi State.
“Give them credit, too," Van Horn said. "They fouled off a lot of pitches and finally got something they could handle. It’s really hard to tell from the side exactly where those pitches were located, but they did a good job getting to him.”
Costeiu was brought on to replace starter Lael Lockhart, who in 2 1/3 innings faced 10 batters, allowed 2 hits, 1 earned run, struck out 2 and was responsible for a pair of base runners.
Saturday's start was his shortest since giving up three runs and recording one out at LSU on May 1.
Explaining his move to the bullpen for Costeiu in the third, Van Horn said Lockhart fell behind in counts too often.
Twice he began an at bat with a 2-0 count — once in the second inning and once in the third. Also in the second, right fielder Devonte Brown worked a full count after falling behind 0-2.
“Really wasn’t landing things,” Van Horn said of Lockhart. “When he’s on, he can spot it up pretty good. He did throw a few baseballs in on the righties and we’re thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to be OK.’
“They were just ahead in the count.”
In bouncing back from Friday’s 21-2 loss, Tresh and Mensik each finished with two hits and scored twice.
“We knew (Saturday) was going to be tough,” Van Horn said. “They would throw their guys at us. When they got ahead of us it got real tough.”