OMAHA, Neb – Vandy is one win way from returning to the CWS Championship Series.
Kumar Rocker got the win, Tyler Brown recorded the save, and Stephen Scott homered twice and knocked in four as No. 2 Vanderbilt doubled up No. 6 Mississippi State 6-3 to stay undefeated in the 2019 College World Series Wednesday afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park.
The Commodores (56-11) advance to the finals of bracket play on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs (52-14) will face Louisville on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT in an elimination game.
“We just got a very good start from a very good pitcher,” VU head coach Tim Corbin said. “In order to beat those guys, you have to be able to command your fastball and breaking ball and keep them off base and not give them anything extra. I thought Kumar responded to his challenge particularly well, especially once he got done with the first inning, runners on first and second and an out and got us deep into the ballgame. Very impressive for sure.”
Following his Super Regional no-hitter against Duke, Rocker (11-5) worked six solid innings with five hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts.
“I think they were sitting curveball, of course,
judging by the last outing,” Rocker said. “I just tried to move the
fastball around a little bit and still had some success with the curveball, and
just working some changeups to the lefties, as well.”
Scott put a homer in the bullpen in right with one away in the top of the
second to give VU an early 1-0 advantage.
The Dores put up a big crooked number in the fifth. With one away, Austin Martin was hit on the helmet with a pitch. He raced around the bases and scored on a double by JJ Bleday to make it 2-0. Trysten Barlow took over on the mound for Peyton Plumlee and allowed a single to Ethan Paul and a walk to Philip Clarke to load the bases. Riley Self came in to pitch and got Pat DeMarco to hit a hard grounder to first. He threw to second for the force, but no one covered first for the relay. Bleday scored as it went to 3-0. Scott went deep again to right, his 16th homer of the season, to give VU a 6-0 lead.
“The second one,” Scott said, “runners on first and third, I was just looking to get a barrel on the ball and hope for the best.”
MSU would dent the plate in the sixth. Elijah MacNamee had a leadoff single, tagged and moved to second on a long fly ball to left, and scored on a two-out single by Rowdey Jordan to make it a 6-1 contest.
In the bottom of the seventh, Marshall Gilbert greeted reliever Patrick Raby with a homer to left, his sixth of the season, to pull the Bulldogs within four at 6-2. Jake Mangum doubled and scored on a two-base hit by Tanner Allen to make it 6-3. With runners on the corners with two away, Brown struck out Dustin Skelton looking to end the threat.
Landon Jordan had a pinch-hit single with one away in the eighth for MSU. Brown enticed Gilbert to hit into a double play to end the frame.
Brown retired the Bulldogs in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his 16th save.
“Tough game,” MSU skipper Chris Lemonis said. “You’ve got to give credit to Vanderbilt. I thought Kumar Rocker was really good to start and Tyler Brown was really good to finish. We didn’t manage the fifth. The fifth is what gets us a little bit. But you’ve got to credit their players and Stephen Scott, he hit a couple balls that changed the game.”
Bleday went 3 for 4 with one walk, one run and one RBI for the Commodores.