Will defending champion 4th-ranked Vanderbilt repeat or will 7th-ranked Mississippi State break through

No trades in college baseball, but there are teams that come off blow-out wins to ugly losses, and most recent was in games 1 and 2 of the Division I NCAA World Series.

Yes, it was back-to-back happy days for the two best-of-3 teams in the championship round on the biggest stage in college hardball. Defending champion Vanderbilt won game 1 Monday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. in a 8-2 blow-out, and on Tuesday night, Mississippi State returned the favor with a 13-2 romp.

So from advantage Commodores, it quickly turned to advantage Bulldogs, although Wednesday night‘s deciding game could pass as a toss-up. Will it be a Vandy repeat as it did in 2019 or a Mississippi State breakthrough in its 12th appearance here still seeking its initial championship. Worse, the school in Starkville has never won a national title in any sport.

The opening night loss was a bummer for the Dawgs fans who have packed this picturesque, upgraded, state-of-the-art ballpark, with all the parking lots in south Omaha loaded up with Mississippi license plates and Bulldogs stickers. But in game one, these die-hard fans who fill every seat in home games, watched their team tumble against the pitching of All-America sophomore right-hander Jack Leiter and and Vandy hit parade.

But the next night was a complete turnaround, the 7th-ranked Bulldogs by embarrassing the Commodores, 13-2, this time, and with their fans now rowdy and loud again and turning to noisemakers like cow bells. How much did 4th-ranked Vanderbilt turnaround, how about using six hurlers who gave up 14 hits, walked 10, and hit four batters. For a team with few errors during the season, Vandy committed three this game and seventh of the World Series.

So now it’s up for grabs, with the Bulldogs at 48-17, and the Commodores at 49-18 in a clash of Southeastern Conference rivals.

It appears that Mississippi State will start its ace, freshman right-hander Will Bednar, on only three days rest after he started twice versus Texas in the survival bracket, striking out 15 in a 2-1 win, and then fanning eight in six innings two days later as his team advanced to the final round. Although young, he appears very poised and confident on the hill. He talks it up like the team leader.

The 6-foot-2 Bednar is the crafty type with a variety of pitches that includes a buzzing fastball, a curve off the corners, a change-up, and good control. If he gets in trouble, they turn to fast-balling super righty reliever Landon Sims.

But Vanderbilt, which has hoisted the championship trophy three times, has its own right-handed All-America fast-baller in 6-5 sophomore Kumar

Rooker, who fires it in in the mid to high 90s and also features a dandy change-up, a slider and sometimes a curve ball. He has struck out 20 batters in two World Series starts.

It can become quite a pitching duel between these two. Rooker will have more time off after last pitching on Saturday morning, while Bednar, who says he’s eager to return to the hill in this deciding contest after hurling twice in the last four days.

Can Rocker cool off the Mississippi State bats that had a red-hot game 2 with the skies above emptying and causing several delays because of pouring rain and reports of lightning in the area. It’s been in fact four days in a row that this has occurred, the longest six hours and 37 minutes on Sunday.

Same with Bednar. His task is to cool off the Vanderbilt bats that followed a solo home run in the top of the first by the Bulldogs Jamara Thomas, with seven runs of its own in the last of the frame. This one was like game 2, an early ending.

The constant weather delays hasn’t kept attendance down. It has been averaging about 13,500 a game, with the huge Mississippi State turnout again filling seats, and Vanderbilt to have its own backers heading up from Nashville or already being there.

Bednar is only a rising freshman with no current plans to be in the 2021 college draft, but both Vanderbilt aces, sophomore right-handers Jack Leiter and Rooker, are predicted to be chosen early in round one.

But right now, both teams are concerned only about tonight, tonight, a time when one will celebrate and carry off the championship trophy.