OMAHA, Neb. — Kumar Rocker struck out 11 while pitching 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball, and Vanderbilt got to Michigan’s shaky bullpen in a 4-1 win in Game 2 of the College World Series finals Tuesday night.
The Commodores (58-12) forced a winner-take-all Game 3 on Wednesday night at TD Ameritrade Park. Michigan is playing for its first national title since 1962, and Vanderbilt is trying for its first since 2014.
Rocker (12-5) set the tone in another in a line of strong performances. Ten of the 6-foot-4, 255-pound freshman’s first 11 pitches were strikes.
Michigan (50-21) failed to score in the opening inning for the first time in its five CWS games and five of the first six batters struck out.