Mississippi State defeats Vanderbilt 13-2, sending the College World Series finals to Game 3

OMAHA, Neb.

It was Vandys ’worst losses in 29 CWS games of all time. MSU had not won as easily in Omaha as it had won Georgia Southern 15-1 in 1990.

Like Game 1, when Vanderbilt made the first seven innings to an 8-2 victory, this was already over when Mississippi State broke things open in the third inning of the four innings.

Game 3 is on Wednesday night. The Commodores will receive a second straight national title and a third from 2014. The Bulldogs will play in their first championship.

The start was delayed by two hours due to rain, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of another MSU-supporting crowd, which included Dallas Cowboys player Dak Prescott in a pinstriped State baseball shirt and former NFL QB Jay Cutler and basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse representing Vandy.

The Commodores gave the season’s top 10 visits, three in a row to 17-year-old rookie Christian Little (3-2), who fueled Mississippi State’s big fourth game run.

The Bulldogs turned the error into a run in the first, and the decisive third inning began shortstop on Carter Young’s field with Tanner Allens ’importer, but was unable to get the ball out of his glove. It got hit, but probably it should have been out and it was a sign of things to come.

The small three straight walks were forced into the run and brought in by Chief Patrick Reilly. Scotty Dubrules ’hard return folded Reillys’ leg and made two runs, and the Bulldogs got another on a wild field loaded with bases.

The state of Mississippi scored five times in seventh to push its lead into double-digit numbers.

The Bulldogs finished 14 hits, with a light hit Lane Forsythe led them with three hits in 9th place after going 1 in 11 of the first five CWS games.

Johnson (4-0) gave two hits and hit seven Harding reliefs in five innings.

Prescott, MSU’s two-time All-SEC defender in 2014-15, received major cheers during a stadium interview when he collided with Bulldogs fans, surpassing Vandys ’number and volume. When an MSU fan caught the wrong ball and threw it at the back where Prescott sat, Prescott signed it and threw it back.

The All-SEC finals could end with a match between Vanderbilt stars Kumar Rocker and Will Bednar of Mississippi.

Rocker, the most significant player at CWS in 2019, would be at rest during the four-day rest period. Bednar, who won his CWS debut against 15 Texas on June 20, would get three days of rest since he threw 97 courses against Longhorns.

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