Vanderbilt pitching dominates Michigan to win second College World Series

The Commodores are back on top of the college baseball world.

For the second time in school history, Vanderbilt secured a national championship after topping Michigan, 8-2, in Game 3 of the College World Series finals on Wednesday night.

Riding the wave of momentum from Kumar Rocker's latest gem and their 4-1 victory in Game 2, the Commodores took command early and never relented in Game 3.

That’s largely due to another brilliant pitching performance. Sophomore right-hander Mason Hickman allowed one run on four hits and three walks while striking out 10 over six innings.

Reliever Jake Eder closed out the win for Vanderbilt, which denied Michigan its first baseball championship since 1962. Vanderbilt last won the College World Series in 2014.

Vanderbilt breaks it open early

Michigan did strike first on Jordan Brewer’s first-inning RBI single. Vanderbilt quickly tied it in the first inning, however, before surging into the lead in the third.

Michigan starter Karl Kauffmann struck out the first two batters in the decisive inning, before five straight Commodores reached base.

The key hit in the frame was Stephen Scott's two-run single.

The key pitch happened one batter earlier, when Kauffmann and his teammates started off the field thinking he'd struck out Pat DeMarco on a 1-2 pitch. DeMarco took advantage by battling back to draw a bases loaded walk to give Vanderbilt the lead and keep the inning going.

Vanderbilt added two more runs in the fourth. J.J. Bleday, the Miami Marlins first round pick at No. 4 overall, singled in a run and then Ethan Paul had a sacrifice fly.

Single runs in the seventh and eighth innings closed the scoring.

Elite pitching performances

The 10 strikeouts for Hickman were the second most by a Vanderbilt pitcher in a College World Series game. The record was established by Rocker, who struck out 11 on Tuesday.

Rocker, 19, was one of college baseball’s most outstanding freshman pitchers this season. He pitched a season-saving no-hitter against Duke on June 8. He prevented elimination again on Tuesday, while wrapping up one of the most dominant NCAA tournaments on record.

The Commodores finished the season with a school-record 59 wins.

Despite the potential loss of up to 13 players who were selected in the 2019 MLB draft, this pitching combo will make Vanderbilt difficult to deal with again in 2020.

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