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Game Thread: Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vanderbilt Commodores, Game 2

It’s do or die for the Commodores in the second game of the Nashville Super Regional.

College World Series - Virginia v Vanderbilt - Game Three Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images

Nashville Super Regional, Game 2: Mississippi State Bulldogs (37-25) at Vanderbilt Commodores (34-26)

When: 8:30 PM CT

Where: Hawkins Field, Nashville, Tennessee

TV: ESPN

Streaming: WatchESPN

Audio: Vanderbilt IMG Sports Network

Starting Pitchers: LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-6, 4.61 ERA) vs. RHP Patrick Raby (5-5, 3.38 ERA)

After losing Game 1 of the Nashville Super Regional, 10-8, on a walk-off home run by Mississippi State’s Elijah MacNamee, Vanderbilt heads back to the Hawk tonight needing to beat the Bulldogs both tonight and tomorrow to advance to Omaha.

Junior Patrick Raby gets the ball for the Commodores for the 8:30 PM start. Last Saturday, Tim Corbin opted to start Zach King against Clemson, with Patrick Raby coming on in relief; but after King pitched four innings (and 72 pitches) last night, Raby is the starter here by default.

Mississippi State will counter with normal Friday starter Konnor Pilkington, who was a third round pick in the MLB Draft earlier this week but has been a bit of a disappointment this season, posting a 4.61 ERA.

One thing to watch for: Mississippi State used three relief pitchers last night, with two of them throwing over 30 pitches. For a bullpen that wasn’t all that deep to begin with, it’s going to hurt them if two relievers are effectively unavailable, so if Pilkington’s pitch count starts getting up there early Gary Henderson will have a tough decision to make. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, only used Drake Fellows and Zach King last night and has a fresh bullpen otherwise.

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