Not since South Carolina won in 2010 and 2011 has a team won the Men’s College World Series in consecutive tournaments.
Vanderbilt is one win away from making history and becoming the sixth team to achieve the feat. Mississippi State, on the other hand, now hopes to take two straight from the Commodores to finally reach the peak of the college baseball world and win the program’s first national championship.
The Bulldogs had a promising start Monday, taking an early 1-0 lead, but a seven-run spot in the bottom half of the first inning gave Vanderbilt and starting pitcher Jack Leiter all they needed to claim the first game of the series.
Mississippi State won’t have to worry about Leiter on Tuesday. Kumar Rocker pitched Friday, so he will either be pitching on short rest or be held until an as-needed Game 3 appearance Wednesday. And the the Bulldogs know their bullpen is capable of shutting down the Commodores after allowing just one run and two hits over the final seven innings of the game on Monday.
