Vanderbilt Commodores’ freshman pitcher Kumar Rocker threw the first no-hitter in Super Regional history last night. Vanderbilt is an afterthought in college football, and has only started to come around in basketball.
The Commodores have been among the field of 64 every year since 2006, winning it all in 2014 and being the National Runner-Up the following year.
Rocker threw 19 strikeouts for the second-ranked Commodores last night, en route to a 3-0 victory over Duke. The Commodores finished 52-10 in the country through the regular season and conference tournaments. A team wins 52 games, and is only second in the nation due to UCLA going 51-9.
Vanderbilt needed every single one of the 19 punchouts, as they carried only a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning, before tacking on two more in the top half of the frame. Rocker walked two batters, and threw 131 pitches. If you see no-hitters in the major leagues, these are usually the kind of statistics that appear.
You would not expect this from a 19-year-old drafted in the 38th round in 2018 by the Colorado Rockies.
Rocker’s father is former NFL linebacker Tracey Rocker. A third-round pick by the Washington Redskins in the 1989 NFL draft, Rocker played only four NFL seasons before finishing his career with one season in the World League. Since 2003 Tracey Rocker has gone on to be a position coach with five different SEC teams, and had a two-year stint as the defensive line coach with the Tennessee Titans.
How impressive was Rocker’s gem? Every Duke player who had a plate appearance struck out at least once. He got four players to go down three times, and one of those even picked up the “Golden Sombrero” by striking out a fourth.
You see a lot more no-hitters and perfect games in NCAA softball, but to do it in the postseason would be on par with a team being shut out say 31-0 in the College Football Playoff.
I wonder what team was on the losing end of that score?
The amazing part of the College World Series is that Vanderbilt makes history, and still needs a win over Duke on Sunday to make it to Omaha. The Commodores could be the top overall seed if UCLA loses their Super Regional to Michigan.
Rocker’s no-hitter was Vanderbilt’s first since 1971. There was a moment in the bottom of the first where Rocker hit Duke center fielder Kennie Taylor in the head on his eighth pitch of the game. Taylor would leave the game as a precaution, sustaining no injury. Rocker did not let the moment rattle him, as threw his first strikeout to the very next hitter.
The freshman finished with a marginal 10-5 record, and a 3.50 ERA in 87.1 innings pitched. The only other time Rocker threw double-digit strikeouts was on 26 April against Auburn (10), his father’s alma-mater.
Still a teenager, Rocker stands 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds. Several publications tabbed him as LeBron James for baseball, despite having a C.C. Sabathia frame.
Rocker threw a no-hitter at half of Sabathia’s age, and is going to make some MLB team very happy in the next few years.
Provided that team does not play at “Coors Canaveral.”
-JC24