2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 20, 2021

Andrew Abbott

Virginia Cavaliers

Postgame Press Conference

Virginia - 6, Tennessee - 0

Q. Just talk about your mental approach to facing such a powerful lineup as Tennessee, which I'm sure you're accustomed to, but they were a little special, and just your overall performance today.

ANDREW ABBOTT: Tennessee really has a special lineup, special coach. They've had a special year, frankly. They're really good. They finished top five in the nation, top in the SEC. And they had a really good team coming in, so me and Drew sat down and developed a plan for them.

It came to fruition during the game. It was mainly just execution of pitches and just try and limit the damage. I got in a little more jams than I would like in that game, to make it interesting. But just having the team defense behind me and the hitters stepping up at the plate just made the difference for us.

Q. Andrew, I know how competitive of a guy you are. Not getting wins in those first two postseason starts, what did it mean for you to get this opportunity to get another shot in this postseason and to go out pitch the way you did and play the way you guys did as a team?

ANDREW ABBOTT: The biggest thing was to just give the team the best chance to win. I really didn't care about what I did personally. I just wanted to go out and give a strong start for our team and give us the best chance to win. And just keeping that offense quiet for as long as I did and our offense came around and had timely hitting, just spoke to the depths of how we've been playing these recent few weeks and just chugging along.

Q. I think your first three pitches were balls, walked the first guy, then you settled in pretty well. What was it like adjusting to the College World Series and maybe the nerves?

ANDREW ABBOTT: The first inning was mainly just trying to get used to the fans. There's 22,000 of them here. It's something not every baseball player is used to, especially in college.

And just slowing the game down and executing pitches. I was rushing, my heart was beating a thousand beats per minute. And just had to slow down, catch my breath and go to work.

Q. Obviously you work with Logan a lot throughout the year. What is it like to see him go out there and have a great game? He's been good behind the dish all season but to see him at the plate come up in a big way like he did?

ANDREW ABBOTT: He's been our anchor behind the plate for two seasons now. Guy just works really well with all the pitchers. He knows what the heck's going on. And just he's one of those guys that steps up in big ways in different scenarios -- blocking pitches, throwing a guy out in a big spot.

Today, hitting the home run in front of his dad was special. And just being there doing what the team needs that's what this guy does and when you do that you get rewarded. And he's been doing that for two seasons now while he's been at UVA. It's time for the rewards to start coming for him.

Q. Just a little bit more about Logan. You mentioned you know how special it was for him to do what he did today in front of his dad. How aware have you guys been about the challenges that he and his family have faced and how have you guys as teammates tried to help him?

ANDREW ABBOTT: You know, mainly just trying to listen. His dad has been through a hard time with cancer. Just trying to be friends and to be people to listen. That's the best thing you can do, is somebody that's had some hard times is listen and understand what they're going through. And figure out how to help them.

I think baseball has helped him the most other than teammates. Just being out there, the freedom and knowing that his dad wanted him to play. That's father/son special. That's what every family needs and just being here today I know he loved it.

Q. Once you got through those first two batters, not only you but the whole team never seemed rattled the rest of the game. Was the experience that Coach O'Connor and Kevin McMullan had, did that play a role at all in your preparation for this moment?

ANDREW ABBOTT: They had talked about what to expect. They wanted us to come watch the Vandy game last night just to get a sense of the crowd and the ebbs and flows of the game here. The crowd reactions and all that is going to weigh on you guys and not trying to play with just emotion. Trust in our game, playing the way that we had been playing the last few weeks.

And to have three coaches, including Coach Kirby, that have been here multiple times, that just can only help you. They know what to expect. They've been to the finals. They've been runner up. They've won the thing.

So just having them kind of telling us what to expect and how to handle ourselves and what we need to do at certain times it can only help.

Q. You obviously talked about the jams you went through, they were at different points in the game and different times through the batting order. What kind of adjustments did you make through each of those different types of jams you were going through? Was it just sequential changes or what were you and Logan looking at in that process?

ANDREW ABBOTT: Mainly me and Logan were looking at just execution of pitches. Early on in the game I was leaving stuff up and that's why we had one jam in the first inning. So it was mainly just calming me down, telling me to take a breath and to refocus and execute.

That's the name of the game and that's what you do as a pitcher, you want to execute so you can get outs for your team.

And after that happened, I started spotting up. They're a good hitting team. So putting the ball in play isn't that bad. And just not relying on yourself, relying on your defense and Logan behind the plate and the guys in the dugout cheering for you and pushing you to finish. That just means the world. And that's what really set me to the mentality of, hey, I've got to put a stop to this. I'm in my own jam, I want to get out of it.