Vanderbilt Faces SEC Rival Mississippi State In College World Series Final

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Jack Leiter. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics.

Vanderbilt takes on Mississippi State in its second straight College World Series appearance after NC State was forced to forfeit due to Covid-19 protocols.

The Commodores were set to face NC State for a third time on Saturday, June 26, with the winner getting a ticket to the CWS Finals. The Wolf Pack lost to Vanderbilt 3-1 the day before after only being able to field 13 players due to the rest testing positive for COVID-19. NC State was then forced to forfeit the elimination game on Saturday after more players were forced to go under COVID protocols.

The NCAA issued this statement after the announcement of NC State’s forced forfeit:

“The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has declared the Vanderbilt-NC State Men’s College World Series game scheduled for Saturday, June 26 at 1 p.m. Central time a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols. This decision was made based on the recommendation of the Championship Medical Team and the Douglas County Health Department. As a result, Vanderbilt will advance to the CWS Finals. The NCAA and the committee regret that NC State’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to continue in the championship in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”

The Wolf Pack was one of the most exciting teams in the college baseball postseason, not losing a game through the CWS until their shorthanded loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Despite its untraditional manner, Vanderbilt is back in the CWS Finals and will face one of the best teams in the SEC and a team they faced in the regular season, winning two of three games.

The Commodores faced the Bulldogs in a three-game series in late April, wining the first and last games. Kumar Rocker pitched a complete game against Mississippi State giving up three hits, two runs, and one earned run. Rocker pitched against NC State on Friday, June 25, so he will most likely pitch again in game two or game three of the CWS Finals.

Sophomore Jack Leiter will more than likely take the mound for Vanderbilt  for tonight’s game. He had one of his worst outings of the year against the Bulldogs earlier this season after he pitched five innings and gave up four runs on six hits. Leiter currently sports an ERA of 2.08 with 171 strikeouts. The Commodores will need its offense to open things up in game one with the help of Carter Young and Enrique Bradfield Jr. Both players had bad days against NC State on Saturday, Young going 0-3 and Bradfield Jr. going 0-5.

For Mississippi State, the player that has the most potential to lead them to a championship is Tanner Allen. Allen was named the 2021 SEC Player of the year and currently has a batting average of .382 with 95 hits, 66 RBI’s, and a slugging percentage of .622. Tanner went 2-4 and hit the game-tying run in the team’s eventual win against the University of Texas on Saturday.

The SEC rivals will play in a best-of-three series with game one being played today (June 28) on ESPN2. Game two will play on Tuesday on ESPN, and game three, if necessary, will be played on Wednesday on ESPN2.

Steven Boero
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