2019 College World Series: Vanderbilt inches closer to CWS Final with 6-3 win over Mississippi State

JJ Bleday and Stephen Scott combined for five hits, two of them long balls from Scott, as Vanderbilt defeated Mississippi State on Wednesday afternoon. The Commodores’ 6-3 win over the Bulldogs takes them one step closer from the 2019 College World Series Final.

Scott put one over the fence in the top of the 2nd inning to give the ‘Dores a 1-0 lead. His blow came on a 3-2 count with one out in the inning, and helped set the pace for the rest of the way. After five scoreless stanzas, the Commodores put some more runs up in the 5th. Five, to be exact.

The first un came off a double by Bleday, who brought Austin Martin around to score. Then, Pat DeMarco reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed for Bleday to run in and score. Then it was Scott’s turn to go deep again. He hit a three-run bomb to give Vandy a hearty 6-0 lead.

Vanderbilt’s pitching kept Mississippi State stymied to say the least. The Bulldogs were finally able to put up a run on an RBI single from Rowdey Jordan in the bottom of the 6th inning. Nothing else would come to pass that inning however, as they still faced this large deficit.

A homer from Marshall Gilbert in the bottom of the 7th inning cut things down to 6-2. And later, Tanner Allen brought Jake Mangum home with an RBI double to make it 6-3. But Vanderbilt kept State off the board the rest of the way en route to the victory.

Kumar Rocker pitched six innings and struck out six State batters along the way. He allowed just the one earned run and had a HBP and a walk, along with one extra base hit allowed. But he was otherwise sterling on the mound. Tyler Brown pitched effectively in the final 2.1 innings. He allowed just one hit to the seven batters he faced and picked up two strikeouts.

Mississippi State will look to stay alive against Louisville on Thursday evening.