College World Series Game 1 Recap

 

2021 College World Series - Game 1

Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State

The Vanderbilt bats exploded early and the Commodores went on to easily win Game 1 of the 2021 College World Series 8-2 over Mississippi State.

The game started off on a good note for Mississippi State as Kamren James homered to left to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.  But that all changed in the bottom half of the inning as Vanderbilt took advantage of a shaky start from MSU Pitcher Christian MacLeod.  He walked 2 of the first 3 batters and then added a HBP to load the bases.  Another hit batter gave Vanderbilt its first run of the game, followed by a 2 RBI single from CJ Rodriguez to make the score 3-1.  Later, Isaiah Thomas doubled to left to plate another run.  The next batter, Jayson Gonzalez, capped the inning by blasting a 3 run home run to left making it 7-1.

After giving up the first inning home run, Vanderbilt starter Jack Leiter settled in and pitched a solid 6 innings, only allowing 1 more run while striking out 8.  Mississippi State was able to score a run in the top of the 4th inning. Tanner Allen led off with a double to right center and he later came home to score on a 2 out RBI single from Logan Tanner.  But that was as close as Mississippi State could get as reliever Nick Maldonado pitched a scoreless final 3 innings to get the save.

Game 2 is Tuesday night and Vanderbilt is one win away from winning this year's College World Series.