By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Jay Johnson already has a treasure chest full of great memories in just three seasons as LSU’s head baseball coach.
But in creating more moments he’ll think about when he’s retired many years from now, he has little time to dwell on accomplishments.
For instance, just a few days after LSU’s national championship celebration in Alex Box Stadium last June, he was on a plane to visit and successfully sign Alabama transfer pitcher Luke Holman who has become the ace of the 2024 staff.
On Monday, after the 40-21 Tigers learned they earned an NCAA Tournament invite as the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional playing No. 3 seed Wofford (41-18) on Friday at 11 a.m. CT, Johnson quickly reflected on his team winning four straight SEC Tournament games before losing 4-3 to No. 1 ranked Tennessee in Sunday’s championship game.
“I wish we would have won yesterday,” Johnson said, “but I’ll remember that week for a long time and the evolution of how things happened.”
It started with two dominant starting pitching performances by Gage Jump and Holman respectively in a 9-1 win over Georgia and a stunning 11-0 run-rule beatdown of Kentucky.
It continued with two of the Tigers’ biggest comebacks of the season in 11-10 and 12-11 (in 10 innings) wins over South Carolina when LSU hitters and relievers delivered in the clutch in the closing innings.
The Tigers won seven consecutive games starting with a sweep of Ole Miss in the final SEC series of the regular season to rally for an NCAA tourney bid that seemed an unattainable goal after a 3-12 start in league play.
“The pitching dynamic is good, the bats have certainly gotten better and we’ve played very good defense,” Johnson said. “I feel like we have an identity (with the lethal starting pitching duo of Jump and Holman), we have confidence and that’s probably what makes us tough to play.”
Suddenly, the team that lost its first five SEC series to opponents that all got NCAA tourney invites including three of the top five national seeds (No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 5 Arkansas) is being referred to by national media as one of the hottest teams in college baseball.
“We believe every time we go out there, we’re gonna win the game,” said LSU junior shortstop Michael Braswell III, a South Carolina transfer who batted .352 with 8 RBI to earn SEC All-Tournament team honors. “I can honestly say we didn’t feel that way earlier in the season. Now, we have the mindset that we’re the LSU Tigers and we can beat anybody at any time.”
Nothing gave LSU more confidence than beating South Carolina in Saturday’s SEC tourney semifinals on freshman second baseman Steven Milam’s two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.
It came moments after home plate umpire Derek Mollica ejected Johnson for arguing an obscure interpretation of a catcher’s interference call against LSU catcher Brady Neal that awarded South Carolina the go-ahead run for an 11-10 lead. Umpires originally ruled the play as an inning-ending third out when Neal tagged out South Carolina’s Blake Jackson who was trying to steal home.
“I literally went out there (to Mollica) not to get kicked out,” Johnson said. “My whole point of contention was how he reversed the call. I was like `So, wait a minute. I can come out here (as did South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston) and say you missed it and then you’re going to change it?’ “
It turned out to be a galvanizing moment when Johnson was banished to the bowels of Hoover Met stadium (“I was in the batting cage, ready to fight everyone,” he said.)
“We all were like `Let’s go out and do this’,” said Tigers’ third baseman Tommy White, another of LSU’s five honorees on the all-tournament team after hitting .416 with 13 RBI, 3 homers, 2 doubles and a triple. “There were no ifs, ands or buts. We gotta go out there and win this thing.”
After playing five games in six days, Johnson said his team won’t have a full-fledged practice until Wednesday just before they board a charter flight to Chapel Hill.
Awaiting the Tigers there is possibly a second-round matchup with site host and No. 4 national seed North Carolina (42-13), the Atlantic Coast Conference champions. In Friday’s first round at 5 p.m,. CT, the Tar Heels play No. 4 seed Long Island (33-23), the Northeast Conference, tournament champions.
“I’m juiced up for it,” Braswell said of LSU’s 36th NCAA tourney appearance. “And I’m not the only one on the team juiced up.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com