2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 20, 2021

Will Bednar

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Postgame Press Conference

Mississippi State - 2, Texas - 1

Q. Will, we talked about the pose you like, the ice water in your veins. That thing's been rolling around Twitter all afternoon. You backed it up today with one of the best performances ever here. Just what were you feeling out there going against that lineup; and how do you feel you performed for six innings?

WILL BEDNAR: I felt like it was a great performance, probably my best ever, especially on this big of a stage. It was really cool. But I felt like fastball was playing really well up in the zone. And slider played really well, too.

Q. Seems like today you were extremely successful in full counts. What was your approach to striking out batters when you have that sort of, it's either a walk or strikeout sort of situation?

WILL BEDNAR: With situations like that, I just try to thinking about trusting my defense. I've got some studs out there. Just let them hit it, get outs.

Q. Sometimes the moment can be really big for a young pitcher in a venue like this. Where was your mental preparation coming in today to make sure you were going to be good to go in and locked in?

WILL BEDNAR: I think the biggest thing was, I thought, treating it like every other game. Obviously it's really fun to play on a stage this big. But I just try not to let it get too big and treat it like any other game.

Q. I think it was that fifth inning, there was a beach ball or something behind you, and there was kind of a significant delay there for several seconds. But you didn't budge. You just stayed on the rubber. I don't think you moved a muscle. How aware were you of what was going on around you? Have you had an experience where you were this locked in to the start?

WILL BEDNAR: I knew what was going on. I knew the umpire was trying to get me to step off the mound but I wanted to stay locked in. I knew it happened a few times where beach balls were out there, and it didn't really bother me. I just try to stay locked in.

Q. Chris just told us that he went up to you in the dugout after and said that was one of the best performances ever at the College World Series. What did that mean to you, and what does Chris mean to you?

WILL BEDNAR: That was really cool. To be real honest it still hasn't set in yet. But that was awesome. Especially to have Coach Lem say that, it means a lot. And I'm still kind of on cloud nine.

Q. Did you get a sense to sort of soak in that moment? You were leaving the mound, the stadium, everyone is on their feet giving you a standing ovation. Your teammates are greeting you at the dugout. What was going through your mind when you finally came out of the game?

WILL BEDNAR: When I came out of the game, I wanted to stay in. I was pretty mad when Coach Lem came out. But I trusted Landon and I knew he was going to get the job done. I went in their, got back up on the fence and yelling at Landon to keep it rolling.

Q. We talk about it all the time earlier, when you win this first game it really obviously puts you in a good spot. But overall what do you guys feel like heading into the winners' bracket game and having the momentum and staying in the winners' bracket this tournament?

WILL BEDNAR: Feel good. Definitely feel good about it, moving forward, keeping it rolling. Still a lot more baseball to play. We're not done yet.

Q. Maybe over the last couple of weeks it's been a little up and down for you the last few outings. Just curious was there anything in particular you were working on between starts or any adjustments that you made in your prep heading into this one?

WILL BEDNAR: Definitely the big thing was just working on continuing to improve fastball command and working on keeping the slider -- trying to make sure I throw it for a strike and get it off the plate for a strikeout pitch.

Q. On a night like tonight, are you keeping track of your strikeouts mentally?

WILL BEDNAR: Yeah. I wasn't trying to, but I kind of kept peeking up at the board.

Q. I was wondering you mentioned attacking up in the zone with the fastball. Was that part of the game plan? Was that part of what you like to do? Just what went into that strategic piece tonight going after them with that fastball high?

WILL BEDNAR: A little bit of both. I feel like my fastball plays really well up in the zone. And they're a big swinging team. I think those two really kind of went hand in hand, really helped me out today.