NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter, the prospect of ESPN’s MLB Project 2, threw a goalless draw Saturday in the Commodores’ 5-0 win over South Carolina.
Leiter ran a batter in the first half before recording 27 consecutive outings. He finished with 16 career hits, as Commodore no. 2 improved to 15-2, 2-0 in the SEC.
Leiter was effective, recording 81 shots in 124 pitches, inducing eight fly outs and three groundouts, improving to 5-0.
“Walking with the first guy is obviously not something you want to do,” Leiter said in his post-game interview on the SEC Network. “But I would say not until the fifth, sixth, seventh half, when he started to feel different from other games.”
The son of former MLB pitcher Al Leiter, Jack works for most of the ’90s at his own speed, using a knockout plus curve as the best secondary pitch, traits that attract more scouts to his games.
And it all worked out on Saturday against the Gamecocks (11-6, 0-2), who lost their sixth straight game and were not hit for the first time since 1990.
“Nobody said anything, it was a kind of unspoken thing, I did the same thing I did in any half,” Leiter said of his inter-half routine. “I would sit quietly and gather my thoughts.
“I really try to always say ‘next step, next tone, next tone’ and I’m kind of staying in the moment.”
Tate Kolwyck hit a pair of home runs with two runs for Vanderbilt in his third straight win.
Leiter is one of only two Vanderbilt players to lead the MLB team. Kumar Rocker, also a right-hander, is number 3 in the latest rankings of ESPN’s MLB drafts.
Saturday’s win was Vanderbilt’s first season, which he hasn’t played in the regular season since 1971. Rocker threw a game without a game in the 2019 NCAA Super Regionals vs. Duke.