Mississippi State shuts out Vanderbilt in Game 3 to win College World Series for first time
Nick SussOMAHA, Neb. — For the first time in program history, Mississippi State fans can ring cowbells with a ring on their finger.
Mississippi State won the College World Series on Wednesday night, defeating Vanderbilt 9-0 in Game 3 to bring home the first team sport national championship in school history. This College World Series win is Mississippi State's first in 12 trips and makes MSU the seventh current member of the SEC to win a College World Series.
"You lose the first game of this series, and you’re sitting there and you know how bad our community, our school, our program wants this trophy," Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said. "We talked about it Saturday night, how it wouldn’t be easy. When you’re going to do something legendary for the first time, it’s going to be tough. It’s pretty surreal right now. But the reason we are champions right now is we’re tough."
The Bulldogs (50-18) controlled the game from the jump. Mississippi State tagged Vanderbilt (49-18) ace Kumar Rocker for three runs on two hits, two walks and an error in the first two innings to build a 3-0 lead.
After Rocker stabilized in the third and fourth innings, the top of Mississippi State's order chased one of the top MLB draft prospects with two runs on four hits to lead off the fifth inning.
Rocker didn't have his best stuff pitching on short rest, but Mississippi State ace Will Bednar did. Bednar threw six shutout, no-hit innings, walking three and striking out four. Bednar retired the last 15 batters he faced.
Across three College World Series appearances, Bednar allowed three earned runs in 18⅓ innings (1.47 ERA), allowing five hits and striking out 26.
All-America closer Landon Sims entered behind Bednar to start the seventh. Sims retired the first four batters he faced before allowing a one-out single to shortstop Carter Young in the eighth, breaking up Mississippi State's no-hit bid.
Mississippi State's offense put the game away in the seventh inning. Catcher Logan Tanner and designated hitter Kellum Clark each hit home runs off Vanderbilt reliever Chris McElvain to expand the Bulldogs' lead to 9-0.
How it happened
Mississippi State earned the No. 7 national seed for the NCAA Tournament after posting a 20-10 SEC record with nonconference wins against tournament teams Texas, Texas Tech and Southern Miss.
The Bulldogs hosted VCU, Samford and Campbell in the Starkville Regional, going 3-0 to advance to super regionals against Notre Dame. The Bulldogs split the first two games against the Fighting Irish before beating them in Game 3 to advance to the College World Series for the third time in a row.
Mississippi State started 2-0 in Omaha with dramatic wins over Texas and Virginia. The Bulldogs struck out a College World Series record 21 for the first win and then came back from a 4-0 deficit in the eighth inning to avoid being no-hit.
After a loss to Texas in their third game, the Bulldogs got the best of the Longhorns one more time to advance to the College World Series finals against Vanderbilt behind a walk-off hit from utility infielder Tanner Leggett.
Vanderbilt beat Mississippi State 8-2 in the first game of the College World Series final, putting the Bulldogs' backs against the wall. Mississippi State thundered back with a 13-2 win in Game 2, forcing Wednesday's decisive third game.
What it means
Before 2021, only two programs (Florida State and Clemson) had appeared in more College World Series without winning a title. Mississippi State had only advanced to the College World Series finals one previous time, when it got swept by UCLA in 2013.
Mississippi State entered Wednesday as one of three Power Five programs without a team national championship in any sport. Now that distinction only belongs to Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
Plenty of Mississippi State teams have competed for championships in the past, especially on the diamond. This year marked Mississippi State's fifth College World Series appearance since 2007 and the fifth 50-win season in program history.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.