The 2021 College World Series opens Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, with a clash between the established power in the past decade against a team with red-hot bats.
The Vanderbilt Commodores should be considered the favorite to win the eight-team, double-elimination tournament as the reigning champion from 2019. Vanderbilt has two top-10 MLB draft prospects at the top of its pitching staff and plenty of College World Series experience throughout the roster.
The Arizona Wildcats present an intriguing opening test for Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker since they posted 28 runs in the Tucson super regional to advance to Omaha.
The Arizona-Vanderbilt clash is one of two meetings between national seeds in the first round at TD Ameritrade Park. The Texas Longhorns and Mississippi State Bulldogs face off Sunday night.
College World Series Bracket and Schedule
Preview
All eyes should be on the opening-round clash between Arizona and Vanderbilt.
The No. 4-No. 5 showdown received prime-time billing Saturday night, and it should be a clash of strengths between Vandy's pitching and Arizona's bats.
Rocker headlined the Vanderbilt staff that allowed a single run over two games in the Nashville super regional against the East Carolina Pirates. The 2019 College World Series Most Valuable Player helped Vanderbilt earn shutouts in its openers in the first two rounds.
Arizona is one of the toughest teams to quiet in Division I. It posted 21 runs in the regional round and took 28 runs off the Ole Miss Rebels last weekend.
In the 16-3 win that clinched a spot in Omaha, Arizona had five of its first six hitters in the order record multiple hits.
Brandon Boissiere was Arizona's most dangerous hitter against Ole Miss, as he produced back-to-back four-hit performances. If the Wildcats get a few runs off Rocker and moved on in the winner's bracket, it would be viewed as one of the biggest upsets of the NCAA tournament. Arizona is the No. 5 overall seed, but it has not faced a pitcher of Rocker's stature this season.
Arizona's Pac-12 Conference mate, the Stanford Cardinal, open the College World Series on Saturday afternoon against the NC State Wolfpack.
Stanford's bats are as hot as Arizona's, as it cruised past the Texas Tech Red Raiders by a combined score of 24-3 at the Lubbock super regional.
NC State knocked off the top-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in three games. Its pitching staff limited Arkansas to seven runs in Games 2 and 3 of the Fayetteville super regional. If the Wolfpack receives a few more strong pitching performances, it might make a deep run as an unseeded team.
The Virginia Cavaliers could follow the same strategy as their ACC brethren. They held Dallas Baptist to two runs over 18 innings to close out the Columbia super regional.
Virginia ace Andrew Abbott will have his hands full against a loaded Tennessee Volunteers offense. The Vols put up nine or more runs three times in the NCAA tournament, but they were also held beneath five on two occasions.
If Abbott keeps the Vols off balance, he could send the Cavaliers into the winner's bracket against the Mississippi State-Texas winner.
The final game of the opening weekend should produce the most runs. Mississippi State and Texas scored nine or more runs in seven of their 10 combined NCAA tournament games.
Statistics obtained from D1Baseball.com.
