SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

May 29, 2021

Hayden Leatherwood

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

Ole Miss Rebels

Postgame Press Conference

Arkansas - 3, Mississippi - 2

HAYDEN LEATHERWOOD: First off, the pitchers were really good. It was a pitching duel between both teams. Adcock did really good, just gave up the home run in the first inning, but after that he competed, did everything he could to give us a chance to win. So did all the other pitchers. They competed their butts off, and their pitches competed too. They got some big hits. We got some big hits. They got one more big hit than us, but that's pretty much how the game went today.

Q. Talk about the pop-out that you ended up in the Arkansas dugout with.

HAYDEN LEATHERWOOD: Just trying to make a play for my team. Didn't realize I was going to end up flipping over, actually. I thought I was going to be able to hold on. I realized I was running a little bit more fast than I thought, so just ended up going over. I think one of the coaches grabbed my leg, so I didn't hit the ground so hard. Just trying to make a play.

Q. Hayden, after the 12 hits you guys got against Auburn the first night, we didn't see that hit total, that kind of offense we've seen from you guys a lot. What was your assessment of hitting for the week of the team here in Hoover?

HAYDEN LEATHERWOOD: Oh, man, every pitcher we saw was one of the best in the country. We faced Leiter and all those other guys, and they were just -- I mean, in the SEC the pitching is crazy tough. It seems like everybody throws 95 to 98 with four pitches and can locate anywhere. Just got to take it day by day and do as much as you can one by one at the plate.

Q. Can you talk a little bit more about the pitching staff as a whole. It seemed like they were really super dominant all weekend, obviously minimized a lot of runs. Just talk about it from your angle from behind the plate.

HAYDEN LEATHERWOOD: Definitely catching this weekend, sometimes earlier -- not all the time, but just sometimes other teams would get big hits, but this week it seemed like every time there was a big situation, our pitchers made the big pitch. They would execute their extra slider down and away in the dirt, and the guy would swing at it. They were just competing and executing as best they could, and I think that was the biggest difference.