What pitching does Mississippi State have left in the College World Series vs. Vanderbilt?
OMAHA, Neb.  Mississippi State used six pitchers to get through eight innings Monday night in an 8-2 loss to Vanderbilt in the College World Series. Now, if everything goes right, the Bulldogs pitchers will need to piece together 18 more. The good news for Mississippi State is that starter Christian MacLeod is the only pitcher who threw more than 30 pitches Monday. A similar thing happened when Mississippi State used seven relievers against Virginia in its second game of the tournament and ended up using four of those same relievers its next time out. The bad news is that the Bulldogs (48-18) had two days to rest between those games. There won't be any days to rest before Mississippi State and Vanderbilt (49-16) return to action Tuesday at TD Ameritrade Park. So for someone like Cade Smith or Brandon Smith to return, he'd have to do so one day after throwing 20 or 30 pitches. History says yes  COMPARING T.A. :Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State a College World Series rivalry nobody anticipated. Just ask Vandy's whistlers  "We know we're going to have to pitch 18, maybe more, innings the rest of the way," Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said. "So, we pitched everybody. We got everybody out there. Got their feet wet in this. And I was happy. Guys went out there, threw strikes and competed so that we'll have them available the next two days. We just tried to spread that out. We probably didn't use a couple guys we'll use tomorrow." Mississippi State's options begin with likely starter Houston Harding. Getting distance out of Harding, unlike MacLeod who only threw 2/3 of an inning, is the most important place to start. After Harding, Mississippi State didn't use right-handers Preston Johnson or Stone Simmons and only threw right-handers Chase Patrick and Jackson Fristoe for 11 and 12 pitches. Then, of course, there's relief ace Landon Sims, who didn't pitch Monday. Sims has closed all three of Mississippi State's College World Series wins. Since the start of the NCAA Tournament, Sims has a 1.69 ERA with a 0.625 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 16 innings. Sims has never pitched on back-to-back days this season. He's pitched twice in the same series three times, most recently in the super regional against Notre Dame. Mississippi State obviously would've liked to turn to Sims on Monday and be able to give him a day off if needed, but it also wouldn't be shocking to see him pitch twice in two days with the season on the line. Mississippi State will need to maximize its pitching Tuesday. There's no saving guys if the game is close. Maybe that means turning to one of the Smiths on zero days of rest. Maybe it means using Sims for four innings and burning him for a potential Wednesday game. If the series gets to Wednesday, ace Will Bednar might be able to give the Bulldogs three or four innings of relief, or start the game as a short-inning opener. But none of that matters if Mississippi State can't get to Wednesday. Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.