Bednar to get start for Bulldogs against Longhorns

Will Bednar watched from the dugout in February as Mississippi State and Texas had a top 10 showdown in Arlington, Texas.

Bednar was locked in on the game as he was scheduled to pitch the next day, but he would ultimately have an injury that kept him out of the weekend altogether. Christian Macleod was on the bump that morning for game one of the College Baseball Showdown, but it will be Bednar that will face off against the Longhorns as State plays game one of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday night.

“I’m really excited,” Bednar said of his shot on the mound. “This is a really cool opportunity to be here, and to be able to start game one is incredible, so I’m going to go into this start, attack it to the best of my ability.”

The second-year freshman Bednar has had some ups and downs this season as he’s faced off against Southeastern Conference opponents and gone through the rigors of a full season for the first time in college baseball. He has a team-best 7-1 record and the team has gone 12-4 in games that he’s pitched. Bednar threw seven innings against Samford with six hits, three runs (two earned), one walk and eight strikeouts.

Bednar followed that up with a not-so-glamorous performance against Notre Dame in the Starkville Super Regional. He lasted just three innings with a seasonhigh tying seven hits, four runs, two walks and four strikeouts. As MSU head coach Chris Lemonis mentioned, though, Bednar has followed up his tough outings with good ones all year.

“We feel great anytime we have Will on mound,” Lemonis said of Bednar. “He’s one of the top pitchers in the country. He’s had a great year. Probably com

ing off not a great start, (but) anytime he’s not had a great start, (his) come back has been pretty good. He’s probably harder on himself than anybody else. (He’s) such a competitive kid. It’s going to be a great game. You’ll see two of the best pitchers in the country tow the rubber on Sunday night. It will be exciting. it will be a lot of fun.”

After giving up five runs in five innings in a loss to Arkansas earlier this year, Bednar came back against

Kentucky with six innings, two runs and 10 strikeouts in a win. He came back from just three innings and six runs against Ole Miss by striking out eight Vanderbilt hitters in five innings and surrendering just one run.

Against Missouri, Bednar gave up seen hits in five frames and the Bulldogs lost with Macleod with 113 a tough one to the last place strikeouts this season to team in the SEC. He followed just 20 walks in 74 innings that up with his best and he’s likely pitching in outing of the year as he shut one of his final games as out Alabama with a careerhigh a Bulldog with the Major eight innings, three League Baseball Draft expected hits, no runs, two walks and to take him from 11 strikeouts. Starkville.

Bednar enters the Col- The Longhorns will pose lege World Series tied a serious threat to the talented

pitcher, but he’s ready for the challenge.

“Obviously they’re a good lineup, but everyone’s a good lineup this time of year,” Bednar said of Texas. “Just go in and attack pretty much the same way I’ve been attacking and do the best I can.”