NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker struck out 11 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, leading the Commodores to a 2-0 victory over East Carolina in the Nashville Super Regional on Friday at Hawkins Field.

Rocker blew through the Carolina lineup all day, with the Pirates never sending more than four hitters to the plate in any inning against him other than the fifth, when the Pirates' Zach Agnos had a leadoff single but never got past second. The Pirates didn't get a man to third all day.

Nick Maldonado got an out to end the eighth, and Luke Murphy, a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save.

Vandy's Javier Vaz and Enrique Bradfield Jr. scored the only runs, both on infield ground balls.

"That was a tremendous baseball game," Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. "Well pitched on both sides. Certainly our guy was outstanding once again, just enjoyed watching him pitch for the last 2 1/2 years.

"Just getting a front-row seat to watch (Rocker) pitch, I never take for granted…. He needed what he needed to do, he got the leadoff hitter, he was landing his breaking ball and he was just commanding his heartbeat.

If Vanderbilt wins on Saturday--that game starts at 11 Central--they'll advance to the College World Series.

ECU's Williams was almost equally good, striking out 13 in 7 2/3 innings. He allowed both runs and threw a season-high 111 pitches on a steamy day with temperatures around 80.

"We ain't sitting here in Nashville without him," ECU coach Cliff Godwin said.

"I felt like I held my own the whole game" Williams said. "I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to give my team a shot to win."

Williams was dominant with his fastball all day. That pitch sat 97-99 in the first, though his velocity dropped to around 95-96 at the end.

But in the second, Vandy's Parker Noland laid down a bunt with one out and then C.J. Rodriguez ripped a single past third.

Vaz hit the first pitch he saw to second, scoring the game's first run.

Williams continued to carve up the Commodore lineup. But in the eighth, Bradfield reached on an infield chopper, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Carter Young's bunt.

Then, Vanderbilt's Dominic Keegan grounded to short, where Ryder Giles was playing in. Giles made a good throw to the plate and catcher Seth Caddell applied the tag on a close play, with Bradfield ruled out.

But after several minutes of review, the play was overturned and the 'Dores led 2-0.

The Commodores see plenty of high-velocity fastballs, but Vaz didn't mince words when asked what made Williams's fastball so tough.

"This one was 97-99," Vaz said.

"That’s Gavin Williams, you’re got to give that kid credit. … He attacked with his fastball early and then he started to land two different breaking balls. … And he didn’t blink either," Corbin said.

If this is Kumar Rocker's last collegiate start at home--and it almost certainly is--he left after one of his best outings, a 117-pitch gem in which he threw 72 strikes.

"He had his slider going, his breaking ball going, his change-up… and plus he had a pitcher’s zone, so that made it very tough on our hitters," Godwin said.

The breaking ball was a pitch that Rocker termed "a curve," and it's not one he's thrown much throughout his career. That one sat around 73-76.

Vandy's junior worked quickly--though not as quickly as he has at times--and had a six-pitch first, getting two ground outs and a fly out, the first two coming on fastballs and the last on the cutter.

"I think I had everything working for me," Rocker said. "The cutter was really to get ahead of right-handers on the outside corner and show them something different."

In the second, Rocker threw nine of his 14 pitches for strikes and also got a 1-2-3 innings, with a strikeout on a slider and another on a cutter.

Rocker got through the third without much issue, using 15 pitches and getting strikeouts on his slider and cutter, and then, getting a ground-out on a 96-mile-an-hour fastball that was his fastest pitch of the day to that point.

In the fourth, Rocker couldn't find the plate with his fastball or cutter to start the inning, throwing six straight balls to start the inning. But that changed as quickly as it came about, with Rodriguez gunning down Connor Norby trying to steal and then Rocker struck out Thomas Fransisco looking and Josh Moylan swinging with pitches of 96 and 95, respectively.

"We had an opportunity to make something happen with Norby," Godwin said. "Norby got a bad jump and kept running. … Once we ran one time, he was slide-stepping and that made it difficult to do anything offensively when we had a guy at first base.

The Pirates had two on with two out in a 16-pitch fifth, but Seth Caddell pounded one into the turf that Gonzalez made force play on at third to end the inning.

Rocker was masterful in the sixth, sandwiching three strikeouts around a two-out single to Fransisco. The best pitch was when he froze Norby--one of America's best hitters--on a 93-mile-an-hour fastball on the outer edge of the plate. The other two came on sliders.

Rocker ended the seventh on his 101st pitch, a swinging strike on something that hit 76 and resembled a curve ball.

In the eighth, Rocker allowed a single to Norby with two out on a 93-mile-an-hour fastball before exiting. Earlier in the inning, Caddell just missed a homer to left (it was foul) and also had a hard-hit foul ball, the first hard contact off Rocker all day.

Basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse sang the national anthem.

Vaz started in left, with Troy LaNeve the DH.

Starting second baseman Tate Kolwyck, who hurt his hand in last Friday's game, didn't play again on Friday. Noland started at second.

VU 2: Vaz ground-out scored Noland. VU, 1-0

VU 8: Keegan ground-out scored Bradfield. VU, 2-0