Kumar Rocker kept Vanderbilt's season alive in historic fashion.
The 6-4 freshman righty threw the first no-hitter in NCAA baseball Super Regionals history in a 3-0 win over Duke. The Super Regional format was first introduced in 1999.
Rocker finished with 19 strikeouts and walked just two in nine innings on 131 pitches. He struck out the side to finish the game. The no-hitter is the first in program history since Doug Wessel in 1971.
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A night after a deflating 18-5 loss to the Blue Devils, the No. 2 overall seeded Commodores needed Saturday's win to stay alive in the best-of-three series. Vanderbilt and Duke will now play a decisive Game 3 on Sunday.
Rocker now has a 10-5 record and 3.50 ERA in his freshman season. He's allowed just one earned run in 15.2 innings of the 2019 NCAA baseball tournament. In regionals, he tossed 6.2 innings, recording eight strikeouts on one earned run in an 8-5 win over Indiana State.
History.
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The final out of Kumar Rocker's NO HITTER! |
Rocker's historic no-hitter was actually almost the second of the day. Louisville's Bobby Miller made it through eight hitless frames before giving up a single in the ninth inning of the Cardinals' 12-0 win over ECU.
Rocker's gem is the eighth no-hitter in NCAA baseball tournament history. Two have come in College World Series play.
