Mississippi State Wins 2021 College World Series Title Over Vanderbilt, First NCAA Title In School History
Mississippi State (50-18) is the 2021 College World Series champ after shutting down the Vanderbilt Commodores (49-17), 9-0, to conclude the three-game championship series. The Bulldogs' Game 3 victory solidified not just the program's first CWS title, but the first NCAA title across any sport in school history.
There was a whopping 24,052 in attendance in Omaha to witness a stellar Mississippi State offense led by Logan Tanner, Luke Hancock and Kellum Clark. After tying up the CWS series with a 13-2 win on Monday, the Bulldogs put even more power on display Wednesday night. They had a 3-0 advantage by the end of the second inning.
Tim Corbin's Vanderbilt squad, by contrast, fell flat for a second straight game.
Vandy pitcher Kumar Rocker played four innings and was done for the day after giving up five runs. Mississippi State ace Will Bednar, on the other hand, refused to give up a hit through six innings, and his commanding performance helped MSU seal the title.
The Commodores' only hit of the night came from Carter Young in the eighth inning, an indication of a sluggish effort from Vandy following their controversial series victory over NC State.
Vanderbilt started out the series hot by winning Game 1, 8-2, but never found a way to stop Mississippi's offense following the onslaught of Game 2 and the series-clinching Game 3.
Time to cross one off the list.