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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 19, 2019

Omaha, Nebraska

Vanderbilt - 6, Mississippi State - 3

TIM CORBIN: Well, we just got a very good start from a very good pitcher. In order to beat those guys, you have to be able to command your fastball and breaking ball and keep them off base and not give them anything extra.

I thought Kumar responded to his challenge particularly well, especially once he got done with the first inning, runners on first and second and an out and got us deep into the ballgame. Very impressive for sure.

And then the back end of that game, getting those seven difficult outs was -- Tyler's outing was equally as impressive at the end. It's tough to shut them down. You can feel them coming. But he didn't allow any base runners, and at the end, got the last three outs. Of course Scotty's hits were the difference in the ballgame in terms of our scoring.

We had opportunities early and didn't get a timely hit, but his first home run kind of broke the game open. I thought JJ's double and driving a run in was big for our kids, and then certainly the ball that Scotty hit out. But we played good defense behind our pitchers, and we just moved forward.

Q. How good did it feel to come out and do what you did today?
STEPHEN SCOTT: Yeah, it felt really good. We went into this game confident with Kumar on the mound, and he really showed up, and that's a pretty scary team top to bottom, so we were looking to give him some run support.

Q. Kumar, nobody else here has pitched in Omaha immediately after throwing a no-hitter. You have. What's that pressure like of carrying that into Omaha, and what did you do to prepare to follow up a no-hitter throwing in Omaha for the first time?
KUMAR ROCKER: Yeah, the no-hitter, I moved forward from that. I couldn't think of that while on the mound. I knew if I went out there and tried to win that things would go JJ catching fire, it was a good game.

Q. Kumar, how did you feel about your stuff, and what was your approach against that lineup?
KUMAR ROCKER: I think they were sitting curveball, of course, judging by the last outing, and then I just tried to move the fastball around a little bit and still had some success with the curveball, and just working some changeups to the lefties, as well.

Q. Stephen, walk us through those two home runs. Were you sitting on a certain pitch there? What happened?
STEPHEN SCOTT: Not necessarily. The second one, runners on first and third, I was just looking to get a barrel on the ball and hope for the rest.

So like I said, we were trying to give Kumar a little run support. We were pretty confident up 1-0, but at the same time we were expecting that they were going to push, and they ended up doing that, and Tyler came in and shut them down.

Q. Kumar, what advice do you have for kids who are facing a pitcher like you?
KUMAR ROCKER: Ooh, say to sit fastball. If they see my fastball and they sit it, they should have success with it.

Q. Tyler, you're warm, getting ready to come in in the seventh inning there, waiting to come out the bullpen door. How badly did you want to finish that one off?
TYLER BROWN: I wanted to really bad because of last year. We all know what happened. I feel like I needed to do it for my team, and I was excited just to do it for my brothers that were behind me.

Q. Kumar, you didn't work as quickly as you did last week. Was it the heat? You were still pretty good in spite of that, but what was up with the pacing today? It was a little different than what we had seen in?
KUMAR ROCKER: Yeah, being in that environment, to be honest, after the first inning I looked up and said, all right, I'm good now. That first inning I was a little bit zoned out, I had to take my time and get my feet under me and just kind of start cruising. It took me a little bit to do that. And I wanted to definitely focus on pitching with that lineup top to bottom.

Q. Kumar, Mississippi State said you throw a slider, you said a curveball. What makes it so effective I guess is the question?
KUMAR ROCKER: You've got to ask Duke and State that. I couldn't tell you, I just throw it.

Q. Tyler, when you come in that early, you're not coming in in the ninth, you come in late in the seventh, how does your job change? How does your approach change knowing you've got to take it a little longer?
TYLER BROWN: Doesn't change at all for me. I just try to do it pitch by pitch, and again, for the brothers that are behind me because they give me a lot of confidence, and I have a lot of confidence in them, and I've got to battle, and it doesn't matter how long or how many pitches, I'll do it.

Q. Kumar, a long way off since that last start, and then it gets pushed an extra day. What did your last week and a half look like in terms of throwing, especially when you're also coming off such a heavy outing the last time?
KUMAR ROCKER: Right. The staff, the training, the trainers, they were with me the whole time, and just stretching, moving the body around, staying loose. That was really the key to it.

Q. Just looking at Stephen Scott, he's a guy that hit with some power obviously last year, but he's a much more consistent hitter this year. What have you seen in his development over the last year as a hitter?
TIM CORBIN: Zone control. I just think the ability when they get older is not to overswing and recruit power. I think he's tempered that. I think he's more compact, and before he enters the zone with his bat. He's a strong kid but he's shown the ability to hit both sides of the field. He's just been consistent throughout the year. This is the most consistent he's been.

But when you start piling up at-bats over time, then you start becoming more experienced, and he's done that.

Q. Tim, you can tell my Kumar's body language he's really wanting to move beyond the no-hitter. We talked about that the other day, how he would handle that. How did he handle that, moving on from that, to pitch well today?
TIM CORBIN: Well, he handled it well. You never know when you go into this situation. A lot of that talk is -- it's barbershop talk, so you've got to -- the only thing that you can do is control what's possible for you, and he did that. He was in full control of his workouts leading up to this. He's been very, very consistent throughout the year.

He's a very impressive young guy in terms of his training habits and his maturity and how he approaches the game. And to his point, I think once he got by the first inning, I felt like, okay, he's going to pitch well. It's very difficult to get on the mound for the first time here in Omaha, especially for a young kid. But I thought he handled himself appropriately and very well.

Q. Tim, stuff aside, what are the intangible parts of what Kumar brings to the table that allowed him to handle the stardom of throwing a no-hitter when your backs are against the wall, and then coming here to Omaha and being able to pitch so effectively?
TIM CORBIN: I just think he competes well. When it gets down to it, when you see guys that back up performances or become consistent, it's all about competition and their mindset inside of competition. He said it, and he just wants to win, and that's what he does. He approaches the game that way. There's no pomp and circumstance. He's not trying to posture, he's not trying to do anything but get out there and compete, and he's a very good competitor. He loves to compete, and he loves these moments.

So I think that was it. What he told you was true. I didn't speak to him this week because if I spoke to him, it would be different than how I approached him or handled him during the course of the year. If I'm going to speak to him, I'm going to speak to him within the team.

But we moved from that as quickly as possible. The only time that gets brought up is from the questions outside of our circle, but he did a nice job.

Q. You brought Raby in; there's one scenario where you say if you need a fourth game before the Championship Series, maybe Patrick starts that game. Can you walk through kind of what your thinking is in the long-term of pitching Raby today and maybe not having him if you need him for a fourth game?
TIM CORBIN: Well, it was all about winning today. This was such a crucial game for so many different reasons, and we were going to utilize whoever we needed today in order to win that game, whether it's Raby or whether it was Hickman. We just wanted to piece that together.

But as we got deeper into that ballgame, we knew we were going to hand the ball to Patrick and at some point get Tyler in the game, and if need be, potentially throw Hickman or one of the lefties. But there was no long-term plan. You've got to be very short-term in this particular situation because it's all about today.

Q. Given that he spends every day in the lineup with JJ and Austin and what they've done this year, do you feel like what Stephen has given you is a little bit overlooked or underappreciated nationally?
TIM CORBIN: No, there's not one person on the team that's overlooked. They play their part to the best of their ability. They know who they are, they've got good awareness of their skill set, and they stay in their lane. No one is overlooked. They're all good players.

Q. What was the approach for you guys against Plumlee and what impressed you about how early you were able to chase him and get to him?
TIM CORBIN: Well, I just think not trying to do too much. He's a very good pitcher. He's crafty. His ball sinks. We had to get him up. We had to get him over the plate, and we really had to try to use the middle of the field to the best of our ability.

I thought we were okay. I can't tell you you walk away from that one, and we certainly had some good swings, but we didn't overwhelm him. I thought he did a nice job. But we just had to get him in the zone and try to use the middle of the field.

Q. You touched on it a minute ago there, but could you maybe speak to the importance of this game and how it sets you guys up for the rest of the tournament going forward?
TIM CORBIN: Well, it just sets us up to get to Friday. I think by winning this game, we just don't have to play Thursday. I think Chris would, like any other coach, you look at day by day by day, we just move the tournament to Friday, that's all that matters. We're not thinking ahead, we're just thinking and preparing for what we've got to do. We just wanted to be successful so we could keep our pitching staff together.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 19, 2019

Tim Corbin

Tyler Brown

Stephen Scott

Kumar Rocker