Arkansas' Kevin Kopps Shows True Colors After Super Regional Loss

No. 1-seeded Arkansas’ season is over as the Razorbacks fell 3-2 to North Carolina State on Sunday, but pitcher Kevin Kopps showed his true sportsmanship after the game.

The loss comes despite an incredible effort from the right-handed senior pitcher, who made his first start of the season in the game.

Kopps threw 118 pitches across 8+ innings and made just two mistakes, but the final one decided the game — a ninth-inning homer by NC State’s Jose Torres, Saturday Down South reports.

Arkansas Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek tweeted that Kopps was still at Baum-Walker Stadium was still out signing autographs for kids and the game had been over for an hour.

OutKick's Clay Travis said that Kopps' actions after the loss speaks to his character and his selflessness. He said Kopps put the Razorback fans before himself because the fans desperately wanted to win, too.

"To me, what Kevin Kopps did, right after that difficult loss for the Arkansas Razorbacks is what all of us should hope our sons — our ourselves — will do in the face of great disappointment," he said. "Get yourself up, dust yourself off and get right back into the fray."

Kopps also pitched two innings in Saturday's defeat to the Wolf Pack, SDS reports. This marked his first loss of the season.

Arkansas won the opening game of this series 21-2, but lost the following two games by one run each. North Carolina State now advances to Omaha for the first time since 2013.