NASHVILLE, Tenn. — They’ll talk about this one for as long as they talk about Vanderbilt baseball, and when Kumar Rocker is old enough to order a drink in this town, he shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Of course, Rocker will be able to buy a few million rounds when he’s 21.

The 19-year-old Vanderbilt freshman pitcher, who could be a well-paid professional already but decided to sign up for three years in Tim Corbin’s program instead, just gave Corbin’s program an all-timer of a performance, one that had Corbin saying afterward: "In the 17 years I've been here, I don't think I've seen anything like that."

Rocker did it under immense pressure — it was beat Duke or pack it up for the season Saturday night at Hawkins Field — and he did it with fire and poise and a slider that bedeviled the Blue Devils to the point that they may see it in future nightmares.

One thing they didn’t see Saturday in a 3-0 loss to Vanderbilt to set up Sunday’s decisive third game of this Super Regional: a hit. Rocker put Vanderbilt (53-11) within one win of its first College World Series since 2015 with the eighth individual no-hitter in NCAA tournament history – the first in the Super Regional round, which was added in 1999 – and first for Vanderbilt since 1971.

"Just a historic performance," Corbin said, "by a young man who took our team and put us on his back, in such a needed way."

And the no-hitter is just part of the story. At one point Rocker struck out 13 of 15 Duke batters. All swinging. All on that slider. All of them knowing what was coming. None of them able to lay off. He finished with 19 strikeouts, which broke David Price’s program record for strikeouts in an NCAA tournament game. It's also two more strikeouts than the Major League record in a no-hitter, according to ESPN Stats &Info.

So amid the social media reaction that included Price tweeting congratulations at Rocker, the question was asked: Where does this rank among the greatest pitching performances of all time at any level?

And what about individual Vanderbilt athletic achievements? SEC accomplishments? I can't think of another situation in college sports in which a freshman delivered like that, especially considering the pressure. And this may be the most celebrated performance by a Kumar since Kumar Patel and Harold Lee finally got to White Castle in a 2004 movie that I hope you only watched if it was free on television.

I hope you didn't miss this Kumar triumph, though there will be many more opportunities to watch him shine. Like Price, Rocker — the son of former NFL defensive lineman and current Tennessee assistant coach Tracy Rocker — should be a prominent Major League Baseball pitcher some day. I’ll go ahead and put a dollar in on him if there are any pools going for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft.

But even for a guy with all that ability, with a fastball that reaches 98 mph and a changeup he can use and a slider — oh, that slider — that really isn’t fair, this was special. He didn't just win, he didn't just dominate, he completely changed the momentum of this series, one night after his team was clobbered in an 18-5 stunner.

Rocker has been excellent as a freshman; he was untouchable in the biggest moment of his career.

Emotional, too, after Duke coach Chris Pollard came out of the dugout in the bottom of the seventh to chat with batter Chris Crabtree. It appeared to be a desperate attempt to break Rocker’s rhythm. The sellout crowd booed. The umpire broke it up. Rocker struck Crabtree out, swinging, on that slider, and barked a few things toward the Duke dugout. Afterward, Rocker said LSU tried the same thing in the SEC tournament.

"I guess Duke caught on and they tried it," Rocker said. "And I don't mind because it backfired."

Catcher Philip Clarke was emotional in that moment as well. He said he likes when things like that happen because "it makes Kumar throw harder."

Like, 97 mph in the ninth inning. When Corbin saw that flash on the board, he said in the dugout: "Holy cow, he's feeling it."

When Rocker completed the first inning, Clarke had an idea something special was brewing.

"I went up to (Rocker) and said, ‘Man the breaking ball is tight tonight,' " Clarke recalled. "He said 'Don’t jinx it.' So I shut up."

And of course, no one in baseball mentions when a no-hitter is going on, and Rocker said he didn't even realize it until the eighth inning. By then he was a 6-foot-4, 255-pound train rolling down the tracks. Among many things to like about Rocker, he works fast, really fast, and of that he said: "I just know I'm a big man and I've got to start moving. When I get moving, good things happen."

Rocker made one mistake Saturday, early, a fastball that got up and hit Duke center fielder Kennie Taylor in the head. It was a scary moment, Taylor down for several minutes after initially writhing on the ground in pain. Thankfully, Taylor was OK, watching later from the dugout with a welt near his left eye. Corbin said Rocker was visibly shaken when he returned to the dugout after the inning, but he maintained focus.

So did Duke sophomore pitcher Bryce Jarvis, by the way. The former Brentwood Academy standout's performance will be lost in Rocker’s heroics, but on most nights he wins this game and sends Duke to a stunning upset and College World Series appearance. He gave up five hits and one run in seven innings, walking four and striking out nine, giving his team a chance by mixing speeds and locations expertly, keeping the best lineup in college baseball off balance.

But it was Rocker’s night. One they’ll talk about for a long time. A 131-pitch masterpiece, from a guy whose previous career high was 105 pitches. This was about winning a game. Pitch counts are taken seriously, especially for young arms.

But Corbin knows when he sees something special, something historic – something not to be messed with.

"You look at him and see how big he is," Corbin said of Rocker. "You take him out."