Mississippi State walks off Vanderbilt in Game 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Mississippi State's Elijah MacNamee hit a one-out home run in the bottom of the ninth off Vanderbilt's Zach King, sending the Bulldogs to a 10-8 victory over the Commodores in Game 1 of the Nashville Super Regional on Friday night.

With second baseman Hunter Stovall on first, MacNamee blasted an 0-2 change-up out to left, setting off a celebration at home plate seconds later. It was a pitch he admitted he may have seen coming.

"I saw the pitcher wiggle his glove," MacNamee said. "It was the first time he'd wiggled his glove in three at-bats, so, I knew he wasn't coming with a fastball. because that was the first time I'd seen off-speed from him.

"I just kept my hands back as long as I could, and got a pitch I could handle."

MacNamee hit two home runs and drove in five runs for MSU, which needs only to win one of two possible remaining games to advance to the College World Series.

Outfielder Pat DeMarco led the Commodores with three hits, including a home run.

The Commodores made three errors, as Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said it may have been the team's worst defensive performance of the year.

"Obviously, a tough game for Vanderbilt," Corbin said. "We played really hard. We didn't play well, but I thought we played hard. ... I didn't think we handled the first part of the game well from a pitching and defensive standpoint."

Excepting the home run, King pitched fairly well, giving up two earned runs (three total) in four innings of work in relief of starter Drake Fellows, who gave up seven runs (six earned) in 4 1/3 innings.

That, Corbin said, was the reason that King, who ended the night at 72 pitches, stayed in until the end.

"We had a couple of guys down there... but no, we thought Zach was the right guy. We thought the matchups were okay. We talked to (pitching coach Scott Brown) previous to him being taken out of the game before the ball got out of play because his stuff was so crisp, and he felt he was pretty good, too."

"He was matching up well against their hitters, and he was throwing well, too," Corbin clarified later.

MacNamee's homer broke open a tie created by a wild play in the top of the ninth.

With two out, DeMarco hit a day ball towards the big wall in left, as the crowd waited breathlessly to see if it left the yard. It didn't, instead, bouncing off the wall in front of left fielder Rowdey Jordan.

DeMarco never hesitated around second, but stumbled briefly heading towards third. A good throw might have had him, but that wasn't the case. It got away from third baseman Justin Foscue, and DeMarco scored.

Just before that, Mississippi State's Jake Mangum drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the eighth off Vandy's

After an early offensive onslaught by both teams, the game was tied at 7 until MSU's Mangum bounced a single just over the glove of first baseman Julian Infante, scoring shortstop Luke Alexander with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Alexander had reached on third baseman Harrison Ray's fielding error to start the inning. It was one of three Commodore errors.

Defense also let VU down in the second.

MSU's Stovall struck out to start the inning, but catcher Stephen Scott couldn't handle Fellows' wild pitch, and he reached first. Third baseman Justin Foscue singled hard to left, and Alexander walked on a 3-1 pitch.

With two outs, catcher Dustin Skelton hit a low, soft liner to second baseman Ethan Paul near the bag. Paul caught the ball on the short hop, tagged the bag, but threw past Infante as two runs scored.

Vandy got a run back thanks to MSU's defense in the top of the third. Ray got second on Alexander's throwing error, then, got to third when nobody covered on a pickoff throw to second.

Catcher Stephen Scott then bounced a check-swing single over Small's head, not hard enough that Alexander could make a play, and Ray scored.

Shortstop Connor Kaiser then grounded down the line to first on a 3-2 pitch. Rather than taking the sure out, first baseman Tanner Allen threw home, where Scott got down the line quickly and beat the tag to tie the game.

The wheels came off for Fellows in the third. Before the sophomore could get an out, he gave up a walk, three singles, and then MacNamee crushed a homer a few rows into the bleachers in left for a 7-2 lead.

In the fifth, Vandy got three runs on a bizarre at-bat with designated hitter Philip Clarke at the plate. MSU's J.P. France had just entered the game with Scott on second and right fielder J.J. Bleday on third, when a wild pitch got past Skelton, who retrieved it and threw past France covering home, allowing Bleday to score.

Then, Clarke walked as another ball got past Skelton and shortstop Connor Kaiser, who'd walked and taken third on the previous sequence, scored.

DeMarco then crushed a homer to about the spot where MacNamee hit his, tying the game.

That was the first time the Commodores tied the game, but they never led.

France threw 39 pitches, and Cole Gordon thew 38, but MSU coach Gary Henderson said both are probably available for Saturday, depending on how they feel Saturday.

Gordon was the Bulldogs' pitching hero on Friday, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings after VU had success against France, who gave up three runs (all earned) in two-thirds of an inning.

Riley Self pitched the final inning, hurling 15 pitches to pick up the victory for State.

Harrison Ray started at third. It was his first start there since Game 2 of the Kentucky series (May 18).

Fellows had a four-pitch fourth, and the first 4 1/2 innings took almost 2 1/2 hours.

MSU's Small, France and Cole Gordon combined for 142 pitches in the first five innings.

There were 3,626 in attendance, making for the 111th sellout at Hawkins Field.

MSU 2: Stovall, Foscue score on Paul's throwing error. VU, 2-0

VU 3: Ray scored on Scott's infield single. MSU, 2-1

VU 3: Scott scored on Kaiser's ground-out. Tied-2

MSU 3: Allen single through short scored Mangum. MSU, 3-2

MSU 3: Stovall single to center scored Jordan. MSU, 4-2

MSU 3: MacNamee homer to left scored Allen and Stovall. MSU, 7-2

VU 5: France's wild pitch scored Scott; Bleday scores on catcher's throwing error. MSU, 7-4

VU 5: Kaiser scored on catcher's passed ball. MSU, 7-5

VU 5: DeMarco homer to left scored Clarke. Tied-7

MSU 8: Mangum bounces single over first, scoring Alexander. MSU, 8-7

VU 9: DeMarco scored on triple and error. Tied-8

MSU 9: MacNamee homer scored Stovall. MSU, 10-8