Mississippi State Routs Vanderbilt To Force Game 3 In CWS Finals

Image credit: Mississippi State DH Kellum Clark (Photo courtesy of NCAA)

OMAHA—TD Ameritrade Park on Tuesday turned into a maroon-and-white party. With 24,122 fans in Omaha, mostly cheering for the Bulldogs, Mississippi State played perhaps its best game of the season in the biggest moment of the season.

After on Monday losing to Vanderbilt in the first game of the best-of-three College World Series finals, Mississippi State needed to bounce back Tuesday in game 2 to keep its season alive. The Bulldogs did that and then some, defeating the Commodores, 13-2. The CWS finals will come down to a decisive third game Wednesday.

Mississippi State took an early lead, pushing a run across in the first inning and then scoring four in the third inning to start to separate from Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs never stopped scoring to the delight of the thousands of their fans that have flocked to Omaha in hopes of seeing the first team national championship in school history. Among the fans in attendance was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, perhaps the school’s most beloved alumnus.

The atmosphere was a special one for the Bulldogs.

“It’s why every little boy in the world wants to come here,” righthander Preston Johnson said. “To have that many people travel all the way across the world to just be with us and live our dreams with us is unbelievable.”

Coach Chris Lemonis said the partisan crowd did more than make it a fun game for Mississippi State. With Vanderbilt on Tuesday starting freshman Christian Little, Lemonis said he thought the crowd helped the Bulldogs hitters, particularly in high-stress situations.

“I think our crowd helps a little bit,” he said. “They help us as guy get into the stretch and get into high ball counts. Makes it a little tougher to pitch.”

Mississippi State didn’t need much extra help Tuesday night. Its hitters stuck to their dogged approach at the plate, grinding out at-bat after at-bat.

The Bulldogs drew 10 walks (one shy of their season high) and collected 14 hits—12 of which were singles. They forced the Commodores to throw 212 pitches (one shy of the CWS record for a nine-inning game) and worked 17 three-ball counts.

For a team that prides itself on its ability to grind out at-bats and make things difficult for opposing pitchers, it was a banner night.

“We wanted to grind (Little) out,” Lemonis said. “He has really good stuff. The batting averages off of some of his stuff is really tough, so we felt like we really had to stay on the ball, move the ball, stay in the strike zone and hit balls in the strike zone. And we were able to do that.”

Nine-hole hitter Lane Forsythe led the team with three hits and every starter recorded at least one hit. Luke Hancock and Logan Tanner both walked three times, while Tanner Allen scored four runs.

No matter where in the lineup you turned, there was a Bulldog producing.

“We were just going to stay in the moment,” second baseman Scotty Dubrule said. “Just stick to our approaches and look for good pitches to hit. You’re really not trying to complicate things. You just keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing all year and it clicked for us tonight.”

On the mound, Mississippi State got what it needed from lefthander Houston Harding and Johnson, who piggybacked the game. Harding threw the first four innings, holding Vanderbilt to one run on two hits, and Johnson threw the final five innings, holding the Commodores to one run on two hits.

It was Johnson’s longest outing of the season and was especially important as it sets up Mississippi State’s pitching staff for Wednesday.

“Preston took that game and ran with it,” Lemonis said. “It was huge for us. It was huge for tonight but it’s also huge for tomorrow night.”

Tuesday was the first time Mississippi State won in Omaha without using relief ace Landon Sims. To not have to use the All-American righthander was especially significant, as he has not pitched on back-to-back days all season.

With the ability to start righthander Will Bednar on three-days rest and backstop him with a fully rested Sims (he last pitched Saturday), Mississippi State will feel good about its pitching going into game 3. So to, however, will Vanderbilt. The Commodores will be able to start righthander Kumar Rocker on four-days rest and will be backing him with fully rested closer Luke Murphy (he last pitched Sunday).

“I keep telling our guys it’s going to be a tough road,” Lemonis said. “Our road is always going to be the tough one. We’ll have to be the best if we want to win a national championship.”

Mississippi State has never made it to this point before. It has played for the national championship just once before and in that year, 2013, it was swept by UCLA in the finals. Now, however, the Bulldogs are just a win away from the national championship.

For a program that has everything but the trophy—an iconic ballpark, a devoted fan base, a rich history and a star-studded roster of current and former players—Wednesday is the biggest game in Mississippi State history. Tuesday’s maroon-and-white party was big, but the Bulldogs have their eyes on an even bigger one Wednesday.