2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 21, 2021

Terrell Tatum

NC State Wolfpack

Postgame Press Conference

NC State - 1, Vanderbilt - 0

Q. Can you just take us through your home run, both what you got and how you hit it? And also just the feeling and the adrenaline of hitting that in this park?

TERRELL TATUM: I'll start off by saying my first at-bat he started me off with an off-speed pitch then continued the trend, threw another one. And the second at-bat when I hit the home run it was off-speed pitch that was a strike. And I completely sold out for the next pitch to be a fastball. And it just happened to be a fastball in and I put a good swing on it.

Q. Just what can you say about Sam and his performance out there on the mound for you guys tonight? And how much did it fire you up to see him out there going pitch for pitch with Jack Leiter like that?

TERRELL TATUM: To me, that was one of the most impressive things I think that Sam has done up to this point. Like, I'm just at a loss for words, honestly. I've come real close to Sam throughout the course of the postseason and this year.

And every single day he comes and works as hard as he can and puts in the work and really deserves the results. And he keeps going out there and getting them every single time. It's really, like, unbelievable. I just can't really explain it.

Q. What led you to kind of decide to sell out for the fastball in on that pitch? You mentioned he was off-speeding you outside. What kind of led you to look for that one pitch?

TERRELL TATUM: So for me, the first at-bat it was change-up, breaking ball for a ball, breaking ball for a strike, and then an unbelievable pitch that I tip my cap on. It was one of the best fastballs, I want to say, he threw all night. That was absolutely a great pitch.

So coming to the next at-bat, I realized that I hadn't seen many fastballs at all. So I was really hoping that he would start me off with one. But it ended up being a slider. So I took it. And then I just had this feeling that it was going to be a fastball, and I didn't care where it was thrown, I was going for it.

Q. As Sam just said, you guys have slayed a lot of giants when it comes to you guys as batters. Even though when you're striking out, there never seems to be any fluster at the plate. Can you speak to the confidence the whole team has up and down the lineup when it comes to facing these guys?

TERRELL TATUM: I think that's a credit to our coaches and our coaching staff, and really the confidence that we all have within each other to believe we'll all put together good at-bats.

If we're going to talk about tonight, Austin Murr is probably not happy with what happened tonight because he feels he didn't do anything, but really Austin was the main reason we were able to have success tonight because he went out there first at-bat of the game and saw a lot of pitches. So, he gave everybody an opportunity to see everything that he had tonight for us.

And then Tyler did the same thing and Jonny did the same thing and I did the same thing. We all try to build on each other and make sure we're all putting quality at-bats regardless of the result of the at-bat.

Q. Can you just tell me how this feels to get another step closer to the ultimate goal? What's the feeling tonight?

TERRELL TATUM: For me, I'm really at a loss for words, honestly. From the start that we had and where we've been, I would say, like, this is -- we're really on top of the world right now. This feeling is unmatched, especially to do it here at this stage is one of the greatest feelings I probably ever felt in my life.

Q. To come into Friday's game with no losses, does that take any of the pressure off at all, or do you approach it any differently than any other game?

TERRELL TATUM: So, for me personally, I look at all the games the same. I'm trying to do anything I can to help my team win and give it all I've got for those nine innings that we're playing.

Q. You mentioned how guys were taking pitches and that helps the lineup. The big thing people say about NC State is that the lineup is stacked 1 to 9. Do you feel like your teammates are helping you and you're helping your teammates? Is that why you're having that type of season? Could you just explain that?

TERRELL TATUM: So, for me, I think that -- I actually talked to my uncle about this last night. So for me personally, I pay extreme attention to Austin Murr's at-bats and Tyler's at-bats and Jonny's at-bats, not only because they hit right in front of me, but because I feel a lot of guys will choose someone in the order to pitch you just alike.

To me, tonight I felt like they didn't pitch me like anyone. But I feel like on normal days I try to pay attention and find out where they're throwing the pitches to those guys, if they're feeding them in and out or if they're getting a lot of off-speed so I know what I'm likely to see in my at-bats.