2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 30, 2021

Landon Sims

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Postgame Press Conference

Mississippi State - 9, Vanderbilt - 0

Q. You closed a lot of games so far this season and celebrated after the games. But none of them like that with your teammates. What was that feeling like after you got the final out there and got to celebrate with your team?

LANDON SIMS: I mean, that's the best feeling I've ever had in my life. It still hasn't completely set in that we're national champions. But for whatever it's been the past hour, just really debriefing with everybody.

It's been a lot the past few weeks, the past month. Really since August with COVID and everything. A lot of hard work has paid off. And being the last team standing in college baseball was the goal. And we worked really hard for that.

Q. Where were you in the dog pile, and what is that experience like?

LANDON SIMS: I was at the very bottom. I think Logan was actually protecting me a little bit, thank you to him. But I was on the bottom of the dog pile when we won the Super Regional, too. And that one was a lot worse than this one.

I was in a little more comfortable position on this one.

Q. The national championship, you guys have come to Omaha so many times. What it's like to leave the seniors out on top, and what's it like to be a national champion?

LANDON SIMS: You know, everybody on this team deserves every little bit of the success, especially the guys who have been here through it all. They deserve everything in the world. They've been here three -- I think the older guys have been here three times, and the third time was a charm.

They ended up on top, and it means a lot to the younger guys who get to come back next year and defend a title. But to send those guys off on top is a really, really good feeling. They deserve the world.

Q. Could you speak to Will's performance on three days' rest? And also did you get a sense of how badly you wanted to come back and keep pitching?

LANDON SIMS: Yeah, that guy's a Bulldog. He's the greatest competitor I've ever played with. He works his butt off every single day. There's a lot that goes into his process, his work. Everything behind the scenes that nobody sees. He's a great guy.

He deserves everything, all the success he's had right here he deserves every little bit of it. And us coming in together and competing against each other for spots, I couldn't be happier for him with what he's done and the success he's put up in his short time here and whoever ends up drafting him is going to get a Bulldog. And the best competitor out there.

Q. National title game, Will's throwing a no-no, with no hits on the board. He hands the ball to you. Tell me the feeling that you had at that point.

LANDON SIMS: Now, to be honest with you, the last thing I was worried about was giving up a hit right there. I just wanted to come in there throw hits. If they got a hit, they got a hit.

But I didn't want to put anybody on base with a nine-run lead. Just pound the zone and let my defense work behind me. It ended up working out with a zero in the run column at the end of the game.