2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 28, 2021

Jack Leiter

Vanderbilt Commodores

Postgame Press Conference

Vanderbilt - 8, Mississippi State - 2

Q. What was your plan of attack against those guys tonight?

JACK LEITER: That depends on the guy, but it's really about executing pitches because I trust the pitch calls that Coach Brown offers. And, I mean, I know it's an incredible lineup that they have pretty much from 1 to 9. It's a tough out and they don't like to strike out. And I think that kind of showed tonight. They're a good lineup.

Q. Did you get a little rusty in the beginning? Because you only went six innings. Last game you went basically all eight. Were you a little rusty because you've only pitched in almost like a week?

JACK LEITER: No. I wouldn't say so. Every game's kind of its own game. And like I said today, really good lineup and they were making me work. And they ran the pitch count up. And I mean, I don't know, I would have been happy to go out there for the seventh. But obviously Nick Maldonado has again great all year and he did what he does.

Q. Of course there's a possibility that's your last game for Vanderbilt. Has that sunk in at all? And I guess just what's the feeling like to be able to get that final win potentially in such a big spot here?

JACK LEITER: I mean, I don't know. I think that's sort of a story for outside people. I'm really just focused on helping the team win and that's really all I'm thinking about now. And obviously we have one more to go. So, that's my main focus now.

Q. You took your first loss earlier in the season against Mississippi State. So what went better for you this time against the same team than what happened before?

JACK LEITER: I mean, that's baseball. Our team scored more runs this time, and the balls they were putting in play were going to our fielders more often. So that's just kind of the way things went.

Q. Talk about the guys that played behind you tonight. They scored a lot of runs for you and they played very good defense. What was that like seeing those guys playing behind you? And then the eight strikeouts tonight, what was it like to have eight strikeouts in the College World Series final?

JACK LEITER: I mean, yeah, the defense needs a ton of credit. They kind of did what they have done all year. And it's been really fun to be a part of knowing that you can kind of pitch to contact in certain circumstances and really trust those guys behind you.

And then CJ Rodriguez has been unbelievable all year. I don't see how there's any catcher's better than him. The way he receives and he kind of stays in communication, stays on the same page as the pitcher. And he handles our pitching staff. He's done it all year. It's been really fun to watch him work.

Q. As you kind of look back at the outing tonight, how have you assessed your stuff overall?

JACK LEITER: Honestly, I wasn't too happy with it. I mean the home run in the first, that happens. It was a fastball count and I gave him a fastball in a very hittable place and he's a great fastball hitter. And he kind of did what great fastball hitters do with it.

But after that, I feel like I settled in and my command was pretty good. And I was feeling my off-speed pitches pretty well. Then later in the game kind of lost the feel for it a little bit. The command was a little down and the feel for the breaking balls was as well. So at that point it became, you know, sort of a pitch-to-contact type situation.

Q. Clearly a lot of maroon tonight in TD Ameritrade park. A lot of Vandy fans as well, but what's it like to pitch in that environment if it's your last game? Describe what it was like when it started and then when you kind of quieted the crowd a little bit.

JACK LEITER: I think we kind of had an idea what the stadium environment was going to be like and our fans were amazing all night. And of course the Mississippi State fans, I feel like you've got to tip your cap to that fan base because it's pretty awesome, the support that they give their team. And it's the same for ours.

So it was an exciting game to see the crowd kind of go back and forth. Obviously we had the really good first inning; our offense really came out of the chute really hot. So I would say that quieted them down a little bit.

Q. It seems to me like when you are really on early it's having command of your secondary pitches. Is that really what kind of makes the difference for you in the first few innings, whether you're running up the pitch counts or not sometimes?

JACK LEITER: I would say so, yeah. I mean, early on in the year I was establishing a fastball pretty much first maybe three, four innings a lot of games. Some games that was kind of all I had.

As I progressed through the year I think the feel for the off-speed pitches has come along well. And, I mean, it's like any other pitch; when you have a feel for more pitches you're going to be more successful because you can use them to get into good counts. And obviously in good counts the numbers kind of speak for themselves.

Q. You grew up in a baseball family. Your father played in the major leagues and he was in a World Series. And now you're playing in a College World Series. For the younger baseball players, a generation of kids, for being a son of an MLB athlete, what's it like to have that similarity to play in a World Series, no matter what level it is?

JACK LEITER: I mean, yeah, I've learned a lot from my dad. And he pitched in a lot of big games. And I think that advice has kind of helped along because the main thing in any big game is not making it bigger than it is and remembering that it's the same game you've played since you were little, whether there's 10 people watching or 24,000 like tonight.

I think that you kind of just have to simplify it. And from a pitching standpoint, that comes down to just making a pitch whether you just gave up five runs, whether you just struck out the side. It doesn't matter. You come out there and you make a pitch. And you want to make a good one. Maybe it's not a good one. Then the next one, then the next one is your only concern, really.