NASHVILLE, Tennessee – ESPN MLS No. 2 Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter threw a goalless draw Saturday in the Commodores’ 5-0 win over South Carolina.
Leiter walked a beat at the first inning before recording 27 consecutive outings. He finished with a maximum of 16 runs in the race when the No. 2 jockeys improved to 15-2 and 2-0 in the SEC.
Leiter was efficient, posting 81 shots on 124 pitches, causing eight flight outs and three ground points, improving to 5-0.
“Walking for the first guy is obviously not something you want to do,” Leiter said in his post-game interview on the SEC network. “But I’d say it won’t be until the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, when he started to feel different from the other games.”
Son of former MLB pitcher Al Leiter, Jack works mostly in the 90s with his fastball, using a playoff plus a curved ball as his best side throw, traits that attract several scouts to his games.
And it all worked out Saturday against the Gamecocks (11-6, 0-2), who lost their sixth straight game and had no success for the first time since 1990.
“No one said anything, it was something that wasn’t said, I just did the same thing I did at any post,” Leiter said of his routine between posts and posts. “I would just sit back and pick up my thoughts.
“I really try to always say, ‘next release, next release, next release,’ and in a way, I’m in the moment.”
Tate Kolwyck hit a pair of two-run homers for Vanderbilt in his third straight win.
Leiter is one of two Vanderbilt pitchers occupying the radar of MLB teams. Kumar Rocker, also right-handed, is No. 3 in ESPN’s latest MLB ranking.
Saturday’s win was Vanderbilt’s first season in the regular season unbeaten since 1971. Rocker threw a bargain at the NCAA Super Regionals vs. Duke of 2019.