2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 20, 2021

Rowdey Jordan

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Postgame Press Conference

Mississippi State - 2, Texas - 1

Q. I mean, what's it kind of like as the lineup when you guys are going against a really good guy not able to produce too too much but you see on the other end what Will and Landon was able to do. What's it like from a lineup standpoint to stay confident?

ROWDEY JORDAN: I mean, when you got someone like Ty going up there, commanding the zone, throwing really hard, two pitches, you just stay in there. You keep competing. And that's what we did tonight. We put up a good inning. Got two runs. And it was enough to win the game.

Q. This is as strong as your pitchers performed. Seemed like you couldn't quite pull away from Texas. How much tension did you feel in trying to just sort of put them away and kind of gain some cushion in this one? Seemed like a pretty intense game.

ROWDEY JORDAN: I wouldn't say we were tense up there. You're going against a guy that is going to be a top 15 pick in three weeks. So I think the mindset for us was just keep going out there, competing, putting together good at-bats. And obviously you want to extend the lead. But it didn't happen. So you just flip on to defense and play good D. And that's what we did.

Q. You're accustomed to seeing your pitchers strike out a lot of batters, I think you might have tied the Division I record tonight for a season. But this was a little bit extra tonight. What did you see from your vantage point as you were watching this thing unfold with Will?

ROWDEY JORDAN: Just competing, get ahead with the fastball, throwing a slider for a strike. I think that's the biggest thing. When you're up there, they don't know what's coming, it's really -- it's just really tough to hit. You've got a guy outside corner, inside corner, 94, 95, then throwing a slider up there.

Just keeps the other team off balance. That's what I saw from center and just staying in there, getting even in tough counts, they stayed in there and competed.

Q. You touched on it just a second there, but you've seen Will from center field a lot this year and last year and stuff. But did his stuff just look different tonight? Was there a little extra bite to it? What was it like standing out there? What did his repertoire look like from your vantage point?

ROWDEY JORDAN: Seemed like every time I'm standing there, there's a bunch of bites at the ball. I guess he was ahead in the count more. Pitching in and out more effectively than he has in previous starts, I reckon. That's the biggest thing. He's always got good stuff and tonight it really showed.

Q. You've been in this position before. All three times you've been in Omaha you win Game 1. Based on those experiences how do you keep these young guys locked in and focused and win a bracket?

ROWDEY JORDAN: That's going to be something we talk about. This is our third trip to Omaha, winning all three games on opening night and then coming up short two years in a row.

So I think you celebrate a little bit, but then you put it behind you. And that's what we're going to tell younger guys, say, look, guys, we've been here; we didn't get it done, so let's just keep playing good.