Mississippi State Claims First-Ever National Title With 9-0 Shutout of Vanderbilt
Mississippi State fans will never have to see a has “never won a national championship in any team sport” banner ever flash across their screens again.
MSU came close with the "Thunder and Lightning" that was Will Clark and Rafael Paleirmo around 1985, but the Bulldogs have finally done it.
The Bulldogs finished the job in the final game of the 2021 College World Series Finals on Wednesday, defeating Vanderbilt 9-0 in a shutout victory no one saw coming.
"I couldn't be more happy for a team, a town, a fan base, the whole state of Mississippi, except Oxford, of course," SEC player of the year Tanner Allen said. "Those guys are always on my back. So I had to take a shot at them.
"This team overcame everything, man. From getting swept at home in front of 10,000 versus Arkansas to Missouri coming in and taking a series from us and then getting embarrassed at the SEC tournament. We just kept playing and playing. You blink an eye, we're national champions."
And they did it in front of a dedicated fan base -- there was a lot of Maroon and White in the crowd in Omaha, almost to the point that MSU might as well have been playing in Starkville. This wasn't surprising, though. Throughout the postseason, the Bulldogs became America's team, stealing the hearts of those around the nation with their comeback ability despite having the odds stacked against them.
The Dallas Cowboys can move over for now (though they were technically present too, with Dak Prescott in attendance).
We figured this would be a close, defensive game, but that wasn't the case at all. With both Will Bednar and Kumar Rocker at the mound for their respective teams -- how could you expect anything less with some of the best pitchers in the nation competing?
It all started with a double play ball by Mississippi State pitcher Will Bednar that allowed the OmaDawgs to get out of what could have been a damaging first inning unscathed with a 1-0 lead they only built upon.
Bednar was a consistent factor in the game, as was Landon Sims and the two combined for a one-hitter against a team that drew comparisons to Alabama football in terms of dominance coming into the series.
Bednar was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player, walking three of the first batters he faced and putting down 15 in a row after that before Sims entered the game to finish it off.
The Bulldogs were phenomenal offensively -- as the final game score would imply. MSU snagged the momentum early and kept it, and the game was all but on ice after it really got the bats firing with a four-run seventh inning.
That left Vanderbilt with a tall task, trailing 9-0 with just two full innings of baseball left to be played.
This is more than just another team winning a national title, it's huge for the MSU culture. It's been a long time coming for a team that has continuously strived for success and fought against adversity, coming back every single time they were counted out and winning in situations that looked impossible.
Head coach Chris Lemonis put it best.
"When you're going to do something legendary for the first time, it was going to have to be tough," Lemonis said. "The reason we are champions is we just have a really tough, resilient group. It's been built over time. It's the accumulation of the last three years."
The Bulldogs can hang their hats on this one for years to come.