Men's College World Series 2021: Saturday Scores, Winners and Bracket Results
June 19, 2021
The College World Series kicked off in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday, with two games on tap for college baseball fans.
Below, we'll break down the day's results and top moments.
Scores
NC State def. Stanford, 10-4
Vanderbilt def. Arizona, 7-6 (F/12)
Recap
NC State is rolling.
The Wolfpack opened their College World Series campaign with a 10-4 win over Stanford, battering the Cardinal after a pair of one-run wins in the Super Regionals.
Jonny Butler had himself a game, with three hits, five RBI and two runs, including a solo home run, while Vojtech Mensik added two RBI and a run.
And Devonte Brown flashed some leather along with power at the plate:
Reid Johnston earned the win for the Wolfpack, throwing six innings of six-hit, four-run ball while striking out five.
Brendan Beck had a tougher outing for Stanford, taking the loss after giving up six runs (three earned) in 5.2 innings. It was an almost literal hit-or-miss outing for Beck, who also whiffed 10 batters.
Stanford pulled to within 6-4 with a three-run bottom of the seventh and went into the ninth trailing by two. But NC State wasn't interested in any drama, pushing across four in the top of the inning to put the game out of reach.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that NC State is staying in the winners' bracket. The Wolfpack eliminated the top-ranked team in the country, Arkansas, during the Super Regionals. They recovered from a mammoth 21-2 loss in the first game of that three-game set before recovering to win two in a row.
The Wolfpack may be the lowest-ranked team on their side of the bracket, but they are starting to look like the favorites in Omaha. They'll play Vanderbilt.
Stanford heads to the losers' bracket with a win-or-go-home contest against Arizona.
In the nightcap, third baseman Jayson Gonzalez's 12th-inning walk-off RBI single gave Vanderbilt a 7-6 win over Arizona.
Shortstop Carter Young appeared to hit the game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Vandy a 6-5 lead.
However, Arizona responded in the top of the ninth when Donta Williams' sacrifice fly scored Mac Bingham.
Gonzalez previously added a two-run homer in the fourth for the 46-15 Commodores, who overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit for the comeback win.
Kumar Rocker got the start for the Commodores. He allowed three runs (two unearned) in the first after a Branden Boissiere two-run double and Daniel Susac RBI single but proceeded to retire 15 straight batters.
Rocker was pulled after allowing a two-run homer to Ryan Holgate in the sixth.
However, he finished with seven strikeouts over 5.2 frames and ended the game seventh in school history in strikeouts despite making just 40 starts during his collegiate career.
Vanderbilt's entire pitching staff also landed on a noteworthy list:
The Commodores will now play NC State on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. Arizona will play Stanford in an elimination game on Monday at 2 p.m. ET.