OMAHA (Neb. Mississippi State was the favorite. Vanderbilt led with Jack Leiter at the mound. That was enough Monday night.The Commodores managed a seven-run winning inning and an 8-2 win in Game 1 of College World Series finals. This victory brought them within striking distance of a second consecutive national championship.The crowd of 24,052 saw a large number of Mississippi State maroon supporters outnumbering Commodores fans. Many showed up early to tailgate and ring cowbells in the lots.TD Ameritrade Park was the scene of a mockery by MSU fans who taunted the superfan nicknamed the "Vandy Whistler" with chants of "Let's Go State!" after each of his three short whistles that alternated pitches.Leiter stated, "I think we knew what the stadium environment would be like." "Our fans were incredible all night. The Mississippi State fans deserve a special mention. It's amazing how much they support their team. They were a bit quieter after our offense came out the chute hot.After Mississippi State's home run into the left-field bleachers, Kamren James' 1-0 lead in top of the first half, the Commodores (49-16), scored seven runs off Christian MacLeod or Chase Patrick.McLeod was unable to make a CWS appearance for the second consecutive time and only got two outs. Redshirt freshman left-hander McLeod walked two of the first three batters, and then hit two consecutively to score Vandy's first run. Patrick was brought on by CJ Rodriguez's 2-run homer and Isaiah Thomas' RBI two-run double. Jayson Gonzalez welcomed him with a home run of three runs.McLeod (6-6), who was only able to last 1 1/3 innings against Virginia on Tuesday, was his most brief outing of the season."Tough first innings. "We couldn't get out," Bulldogs coach Chris Lemonis stated. "We gave them too much freebies in the first. Jack Leiter was a great pitcher and he gave him seven runs in the first. He just took it and ran.Leiter (11-4), the leader in national strikeouts and projected No. Leiter (11-4), the national strikeouts leader and projected No. 4, was selected in ESPN's latest Major League Baseball mock draft. He allowed two runs and three RBIs and fanned eight over six innings. Nick Maldonado pitched three innings in relief to complete his ninth save.Coach Tim Corbin of Vandy said, "Jack definitely set the tone tonight." He pitched very well. It was also difficult pitching. This team is not going to give up. They will fight for you every pitch. They make it difficult. He was able at multiple points to stop momentum."After the first inning, the Commodores weren't able to do much offensively. Over the next five innings, three MSU reliefrs kept them off-guard.Lemonis stated, "I don't believe in moral victories, but I told our kids afterwards that I was proud of them because after the first innings, we locked into and played great baseball." "They should be confident in some aspects in the fact that when we did go out and execute pitches, and make plays, man...we're right there."Vandy was the 2019 champion and Vandy is now trying to be the first national champion back-to-back since 2011, when South Carolina took the second of two consecutive titles. The pandemic resulted in no CWS this year.Two of the three regular-season series were won by the Commodores against Mississippi State in Nashville.They reached the finals without having completed bracket play. North Carolina State was withdrawn from the tournament on Saturday due to COVID-19 protocols. The winner-takes-all bracket final between these teams was declared a no contest.Since 2003, the best-of-3 finals have been held in the national finals. 11 of 17 Game 1 winners have won the national title.Corbin stated that the Bulldogs will welcome back their raucous fans Tuesday night and that his team is ready to provide more of the same atmosphere.Corbin stated that the last time he was in a CWS match with so many people cheering for his team was 2002, when he was working as an assistant at Clemson. Corbin stated that it felt like everyone was there to cheer on the Tigers against Nebraska.He said that he believes the key to our success is how we play well on the road and in difficult environments. This was also a difficult environment. We also appreciate the fans who were very loud.This report used information from The Associated Press.
