Jack Leiter’s Final Start Puts Vanderbilt on Cusp of National Title

Image credit: (Brian Westerholt/Four Seam Images)

OMAHA – With an 8-2 win Monday night against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt secured game 1 of the College World Series finals and moved one win away from winning back-to-back national titles. 

Less pertinent in the moment, but notable nonetheless, is that the win also represented the last time Jack Leiter is expected to take the mound in a Vanderbilt uniform. 

If you’re comparing it to his best work, this start doesn’t necessarily stack up. It wasn’t anything like his no-hitter against South Carolina or the seven no-hit innings he threw the very next week against Missouri. 

Against Mississippi State, he threw six innings, giving up three hits and two runs with three walks and eight strikeouts on 107 pitches. He gave up a line-drive solo home run to Kamren James in the first, cruised through the next two frames with five strikeouts and then wiggled out of trouble through the middle innings to hold the Bulldogs offense mostly at bay, even as he battled command as the game went on. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t too happy with it,” Leiter said of his outing. “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.”

A competitor like Leiter is always going to be critical of a performance that isn’t as clean as he would like, but for the rest of us, the fact that it was easy to overlook how good he was Monday speaks to just how good he’s been throughout his career and the high level of expectation surrounding every one of his outings. 

But in context, it was an outstanding start when you consider a number of factors. This Mississippi State lineup is relentless, and on top of that, Leiter lost a game to the Bulldogs during the regular season, so there was already a track record of success there. It’s also the biggest moment of Leiter’s career given the stakes. And by the way, he was doing it in front of a crowd that felt, conservatively, like it was 90% maroon and white-clad fans. 

“Jack certainly set the tone tonight,” Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said. “He pitched very well. It was tough pitching, too. That team does not give in. They fight you on every pitch. They make it very difficult. He was able to kill (MSU’s) momentum at several points.”

It was one heck of a run for Leiter in college baseball. It was relatively short, as the righthander made just 22 total appearances due to Covid-19 shortening the 2020 season and his eligibility for the draft as a second-year player this year, but it burned bright. 

When Leiter was on, especially during his run this season when he was nearly untouchable, there was no one like him in the sport, except maybe his teammate Kumar Rocker. His famous last name, his pedigree and his stats also meant that he brought all kinds of eyeballs to college baseball that wouldn’t otherwise have been paying attention. 

His departure will not only leave a big hole in the Vanderbilt rotation, but as one of brightest stars the sport has to offer, he will also leave quite a void for college baseball to fill in general. 

Of course, with a lot to focus on right in front of him, Leiter isn’t really ready to think about the big picture stuff, at least not yet. 

“I think that’s sort of a story for outside people,” Leiter said. “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.”

The Vanderbilt lineup made sure to send Leiter out as a winner, as it left little doubt about the outcome very early on. 

After the James homer put Mississippi State up 1-0 in the first inning, the Commodores fought back for seven runs in the bottom of the first. Four of the first five batters reached against MSU lefthander Christian Macleod via walk or hit by pitch, forcing in a run. 

Catcher C.J. Rodriguez later brought home two on a single, and right fielder Isaiah Thomas doubled home another run, chasing MacLeod from the game after two-thirds of an inning. Third baseman Jayson Gonzalez then capped the inning with a three-run homer off of reliever Chase Patrick. 

Vanderbilt was feeling it and the Mississippi State faithful that exploded as the team took the lead were quickly in a stunned silence. 

“The biggest thing was playing loose, having fun,” Gonzalez said. “Like I said earlier, enjoying the atmosphere that we had. We knew the atmosphere was going to be loud and a lot of fun. So the biggest thing was just having fun, playing loose and just helping Jack win.”

Everyone will tell you that getting a win in game 1 is paramount in the CWS finals, and that’s true, but it sets up really well for Vanderbilt this time around. 

It will have to patch together a pitching plan in game 2, likely one that involves starting righthander Christian Little and trying to get the ball to righthander Luke Murphy at the back end, but Mississippi State is in no better shape in that regards, and a Vanderbilt loss Tuesday would only mean that it will come back on Wednesday with Rocker ready to go. 

When so much of the discussion around Vanderbilt this season was about the difficulty in winning two of three against them with Leiter and Rocker in the rotation, the Commodores couldn’t ask for anything more.