The 2021 College World Series will largely go in the books as an SEC showcase — 3 teams in Omaha, an all-SEC final, and a new SEC champion, replacing the former SEC champion. But in the finals showcase, there is one star who will forever shine just a little brighter than the others. Overshadowed by the pair of Vandy aces, sometimes overlooked even in his home state thanks to Ole Miss ace Gunnar Hoglund, it’s definitely time for Will Bednar to take a bow.

All he did Wednesday night in Game 3 was pitch the best game of his life on the biggest stage of his life.

Both Bednar and Vandy’s Kumar Rocker were working on short rest in Wednesday night’s finale. Bednar threw 97 pitches on Saturday against Texas. (Rocker had pitched Friday against NC State). Of course, Bednar won the winner-take-all third game over Texas. Facing the Longhorns twice in a week, he worked 12 1/3 total innings of 5-hit, 3-run, 22-strikeout baseball. What could be left for an encore?

Well, Vandy was still waiting. Defending champion Vandy. With consensus all-everything ace Rocker, he of a 19-strikeout no-hitter in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The regard held for Rocker around collegiate baseball was almost reverential.

And then there was the small matter of Bednar have never pitched a game this big — he threw just 15 1/3 innings in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and thus had pitched just over 100 total collegiate innings. Of course, State had never won the College World Series.

But all of that ended up being mere details.

From the start, it was Rocker who was clearly running out of gas. He fought through 91 pitches, and battled all the way. Flustered by his own error, Rocker allowed a first-inning run that for all intents and purposes sealed Wednesday’s game. Two more runs followed in the second inning, and by the time Rocker departed in the 5th inning, State had extended its lead to 5-0.

Meanwhile, Bednar was absolutely and utterly untouchable. He threw exactly the same number of pitches as Rocker, 91. But while Rocker allowed 5 runs, 4 of them earned, Bednar only allowed 3 base-runners. Zero hits. Zero runs. Zero trouble.

Virtually the only rough moment came when Bednar opened the game by striking out Enrique Bradfield but then walked a pair of Commodores. Parker Noland battled him through an 8-pitch at bat, fouling off 3 straight pitches. But then Bednar hit his spot– sinker low in the zone, smacked into an inning-ending double play.

Bednar walked the leadoff batter in the second, but then set down the next 15 batters in a row. By the time State reliever Landon Sims strolled to the mound in the 7th inning to take over from Bednar, State led 9-0, and Vandy was completely out of the game. Sims allowed 1 hit– a single single, if you will — and another walk. Not only didn’t Vandy score, they never really threatened after that first inning.

In fact, after Vandy’s 7-run explosion in the first inning of Monday’s game — the one that apparently put VU in the driver’s seat for the title — the Commodores were entirely toothless for the remainder of the Finals. In 25 more innings, Vandy managed 3 runs on 7 hits.

Much of the credit has to lie with Bednar. His brother, David, pitches for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and this will be Bednar’s final game at Mississippi State before he turns pro, too. Before Wednesday’s game, Bednar was projected as a late first to early second-round draft pick. Of course, Rocker is slated to go in the top 10 picks, and perhaps the top 5, likely a couple picks behind Vandy’s Jack Leiter. MLB scouts might want to take another look at Wednesday’s tape before they lock down that pecking order.

Wednesday was a night of transformation for Bednar. He might have come in as overlooked and relatively untested Will Bednar, but he left the field as NCAA champion Will Bednar, College World Series Most Outstanding Player Will Bednar, virtually certain first-round pick Will Bednar, and Mississippi State legend Will Bednar.

In a season where the Vandy boys stole the headlines, Bednar stole the whole show on the biggest night of the season.