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2021 College World Series: Vanderbilt advances to finals by forfeit

 Chris Lee   in Baseball

North Carolina State's Covid-19 issues vault Vanderbilt into the finals.

Photo courtesy of the NCAA.

After winning a 3-1 game against a depleted North Carolina State team on Friday, Vanderbilt got a win over the Wolfpack on Saturday without throwing a pitch.

State, which played with 13 players on Friday, learned its season was over when the NCAA released a statement at 1:10 a.m. on Saturday morning.

 "The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has declared the Vanderbilt-NC State Men’s College World Series game scheduled for Saturday, June 26 at 1 p.m. Central time a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols," read a statement issued by the NCAA at that time. "This decision was made based on the recommendation of the Championship Medical Team and the Douglas County Health Department. As a result, Vanderbilt will advance to the CWS Finals. The NCAA and the committee regret that NC State’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to continue in the championship in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”

The Commodores are 3-1 in the College World Series after going 5-0 in the NCAA tournament coming into the event.

Vanderbilt will await the winner of Saturday's 6 p.m. winner-take-all game between Texas and Mississippi State. 

The Commodores beat MSU two games to one in a regular-season series in Nashville between April 23-25. They've not played Texas this season. 

No announcement has been made, however, Vandy will presumably start Jack Leiter, who hasn't pitched since Monday, in Game One, which starts at 6 Central on Monday.