OMAHA, Neb. | Vanderbilt left fielder Stephen Scott blasted two home runs and drove in four, leading the Commodores to a 6-3 win over Mississippi State in a winner’s bracket game at the College World Series on Wednesday afternoon before 15,463 fans at T.D. Ameritrade Park.
Scott’s second homer was the biggest. It came off Riley Self and drove in three, extending VU’s lead to 6-0 in the fifth, an inning in which the Commodores batted around.
On the hill, starter Kumar Rocker used his typical fastball-slider combination, running his fastball up to go six innings, allowing just one run while throwing 95 pitches, 63 for strikes. Rocker struck out six, walked one, hit a man and gave up five hits, just one for extra bases, that a double.
Right-hander Tyler Brown threw 2 1/3 innings to get his 16th save, tying Brian Miller for the single-season school record.
Right fielder J.J. Bleday added an RBI double among his three hits for the Commodores, who will await the winner of Thursday’s elimination game between Mississippi State and Louisville. Game time is 6 Central on Friday, and it’ll be shown on ESPN.
The Commodores (56-11) extended their school record for wins in a season.
Scott opened the scoring in the second by launching a 3-2 pitch from right-handed starter Peyton Plumlee over the wall and into the bullpen in right, his 13th homer of the season.
In the fifth, after Plumlee hit Martin in the head with one out, Bleday drove a double to the deepest part of the park to score Martin from first.
MSU (52-14) went to lefty Trysten Barlow to face shortstop Ethan Paul, a lefty. Paul laced the first pitch to left to put men on the corners.
After Barlow walked Philip Clarke on four pitches, MSU brought in right-hander Self to face right fielder Pat DeMarco.
State got the ground ball it wanted, but first baseman Tanner Allen threw to second instead of home to get an out there. When no one covered first, it gave the Commodores extended life.
Scott got every bit of Self’s next pitch, blasting it to the back of the bullpen wall in right, about the same spot as his first homer but only further.
In the fifth, Rocker got into a jam when he gave up a single to third baseman Marshall Gilbert before Jake Mangum reached on first baseman Julian Infante’s error.
After a pop-up to second baseman Harrison Ray, State got the shot it wanted when Allen lined a ball through second. But Ray, who had him perfectly played several steps in the outfield, dove to his left and snagged it to end the inning.
Elijah MacNamee led off the sixth by singling off Rocker’s glove. With one out and a man on second, Rocker froze catcher Dustin Skelton with a 3-2 slider. Rowdey Jordan got an opposite-field single to left to score MSU’s first run, and then got Josh Hatcher swinging on another slider to end the inning.
State had success against Raby in the sixth. Gilbert lined a homer to left to lead off and then Mangum lined a double into the gap. After a strikeout, Allen lined a double to center also, and State cut the lead to three.
After a walk to Justin Foscue, Vandy went to Brown with two outs. The sophomore struck out Skelton looking on a 3-2 slider, keeping the lead there.
In the eighth, pinch-hitter Landon Jordan lined a one-out single off Brown, but Vandy got a 6-4-3 double play on a grounder from Gilbert to get out of the inning.
Before the Commodores found breathing room, they squandered excellent scoring chances early.
In the first, Martin and Bleday led off with infield singles, but Paul rapped into a double play and Clarke struck out.
In the fourth, Clarke led off with a single to right and DeMarco just got enough of an 0-2 pitch to loop it just over Allen’s head for a double. Scott bounced to Gilbert at third, who tagged Clarke as he scurried back to the bag. Ray struck out on a 3-2 pitch and then Ty Duvall grounded to short.
Notes
Scott's two-homer game in the CWS was only the second in program history, along with Martin's two-homer game on Sunday.
It was 76 degrees at first pitch.
The game, originally scheduled for Tuesday, started at 2:16 Wednesday.
Scoring summary
V2: Scott homer to right. V, 1-0
V5: Bleday double to right-center scored Martin. V, 2-0
V5: DeMarco ground-out scored Bleday. V, 3-0
V5: Scott homer to right scored Paul and DeMarco. V, 6-0
M6: Jordan single to left scored MacNamee. V 6-1
M7: Gilbert home run to left off Raby. V, 6-2
M7: Allen double to center scored Mangum. V, 6-3
