(OMAHA, Neb.)——Vanderbilt came into the College World Series as the highest ranked team in the field, and they have played like it so far.
Despite having the game postponed an extra day due to weather, Vanderbilt showed no rust as they overpowered Mississippi State 6-3 in a big win Wednesday afternoon.
Going into the game, the big storyline was Vanderbilt’s starting pitcher, Freshman ace and MLB prospect, Kumar Rocker. In Rocker’s last outing, he blanked Duke with a complete-game no-hitter that included 19 strikeouts. In his College World Series debut Wednesday, he did not disappoint.
Rocker pitched six inning giving up only one run on five hits with 6 K’s. His only allowed run came in his last inning of work, and by then, his offense had already given him more than enough run support.
The Commodore offense was electric highlighted by Stephen Scott and J. J. Bleday. It was Scott who garnered most of the praise as he got the Vanderbilt scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning. He went on to hit a second bomb in the fifth inning, this time a three-run blast that, at the time, gave Vandy a 6-0 lead. His four RBIs set a new Vanderbilt single-game record at the College World Series.
J.J. Bleday was also highly productive, just did so under the radar. The fourth-overall draft pick reached base four times, including an RBI double in the 5-run Vanderbilt 5th inning. Bleday has now reached base seven times in two games at the College World Series.
Mississippi State, as expected, did not go quietly, however.
Trailing 6-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs chipped at the lead
with an RBI single from Rowdey Jordan. The Bulldogs continued to bother
Vanderbilt as they added two more runs in the seventh inning. Marshall Gilbert
launched a homer to left and Tanner Allen recorded an RBI double. Mississippi
State had cut the lead to three.
Any opportunity Mississippi State had then suddenly came crashing down as Vanderbilt brought in lights-out closer Tyler Brown. Brown pitched two and a third inning giving up only one hit to seal the dub for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt has appeared to be the most complete team in this CWS, showing dominant pitching, both starting and bullpen, and a lineup that can produce hits one through nine. They are now one win away from the CWS Final, a place they haven’t been since 2015.
Mississippi State is still alive in the CWS. They will play Louisville in an elimination game Thursday night at 7 p.m. CST. Vanderbilt will play the winner of that game, but that team will have to beat the Commodores twice to advance to the CWS Final.
Ben Helwig, Sports reporter
