SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 28, 2021

Jack Leiter

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Vanderbilt Commodores

Postgame Press Conference

Mississippi - 4, Vanderbilt - 1

Q. What did you think maybe contributed to the struggles for you in the second inning, and what were you able to do to turn it around for the last four innings or whatever it was?

JACK LEITER: Yeah, I don't know exactly what contributed to those struggles, but I just lost the feel a little bit, sprayed the ball a little bit here and there, just didn't execute the way I hope to every time I go out there.

Definitely frustrating, some frustrating pitches, but you move on.

Q. What was the pitching plan with them? They've got a tough lineup up and down. What was it you thought that you guys could beat them with today?

JACK LEITER: They have a great lineup. I wouldn't say there's one specific pitching plan or attack way to get them out. I don't know. It really just comes down to making good pitches, and at times today, I did, and a lot of times I didn't. You take full accountability for that, but you take the positives and move on.

Q. Where do you feel like the week off has helped you these last three starts?

JACK LEITER: I think the week off was definitely helpful. I think it says something about our coaching staff that they're willing to do that in the first place and give me a week off even though I wanted to throw at the time and I was ready to go. They just thought it was the best thing for me and for the team. I don't know, I think it has helped.

Q. Knowing that you play in the toughest conference in the country with three out of the top five teams, what are you going to take with you going into regionals? And do you think it could be an advantage having faced such tough competition?

JACK LEITER: Yeah, the SEC, obviously, is a really difficult conference. I would say it's the most difficult in college baseball and amateur baseball. It's a lot of fun to go up against the best, and obviously it's more fun when the outcomes are a little bit different. But there's definitely stuff to learn and take with you.

Q. Going into regionals, is there anything that you and Kumar think that you need to do differently after losing back-to-back starts?

JACK LEITER: I wouldn't say so, no. Kumar is a great pitcher, and I'm confident in my abilities. Like I have, you take the positives from these starts. Even though they may not look too great, there are definitely positives, there always are, and you move on. Get back in tomorrow and just get to work and do what we always do and prepare the way we do.

Q. After you've gone through the ups and downs of a regular season, where do you feel like you've improved and you'll be better prepared for what's coming in the next few weeks?

JACK LEITER: I would just say in every area it's always a work to constantly improve just a little bit each and every day, each and every start. Obviously, you can't just get better and better and have better results every start, so there are some steps backwards -- the feel's not there, you're not hitting the glove, whatever it is. It's baseball. I would say over time it's just a gradual progression trying to get better.

Q. One more question about the start you missed. How do you, Brownie, Hammer, everybody else kind of identify that week that what you were feeling was different from the fatigue that you feel throughout the season normally?

JACK LEITER: I think it was more on their part. They look into a lot of the analytics and just kind of the way the body look. I did have some starts leading up to that where I couldn't really put it into words, but I just felt my body couldn't get moving as explosively as I'd liked. I would voice that to brownie, and obviously it's just working through those things, but they just felt that Florida start, my stuff, the fastball was a little bit behind. I was kind of falling off a little bit and spraying it, it didn't have the same life, and the breaking balls weren't breaking the way that they normally do.

It was really just getting in that week and getting powerful explosive lifts and take a few days off throwing and then get back to it.