BATON ROUGE – The weather forecast here in the upcoming weekend calls for temperatures in the mid-90s with a 10 percent chance of rain.
Then, throw in 13,000 fans packing LSU’s Alex Box Stadium and the Tigers have a perfect Hell’s Kitchen to melt the opposition as an NCAA Super Regional host.
In the next few days, it would be human nature for LSU third-year head baseball coach Jay Johnson to take a break from conducting Tigers’ players to exit interviews, wander to the home dugout, stare at the empty field and stadium in silence, and ponder what could have been.
He’d think about the four, maybe five regular season heartbreaking SEC losses in which victories were obtainable with a handful of outs.
Win those games and host an NCAA tourney regional for an enormous homefield advantage that often results in three straight wins and a fast track to a Super Regional.
But Johnson isn’t wired like that.
The man who speaks in his own lexicon with phrases such as “professional at-bats” and “complementary baseball” and “sustainable style of play” accepts the results of a season-long journey of peaks and valleys.
He understands in the end his team is exactly what its season-ending record and finish says it is.
LSU’s 43-23 mark, ending with a 4-3 10th-inning loss at North Carolina in the NCAA’s Chapel Hill Regional, is slightly under the 46.1 wins per season the Tigers had the last 39 years (minus the 2020 COVID-shortened season) since Skip Bertman became LSU’s coach in 1984.
By the lofty standards set by the Tigers winning seven national titles in that time frame, the past season was underwhelming.
Until you consider LSU started SEC play 3-12, losing its first five league series, and then rallied to win 21 of its last 28 games, Johnson’s post-game comments after the North Carolina season-ending loss reflected how most of the Tigers’ fan base felt.
“I’ll never forget this week the rest of my life,” Johnson said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of great teams and go a little further than this. But my heart’s full right now.
“In terms of how I’ll remember this, I’m good. I got all the peace in the world right now about what these guys did and I’m so proud of them.”
Three weeks ago when LSU ended the regular season with a home SEC series sweep of Ole Miss, the Tigers’ chances for an NCAA tournament at-large bid were in doubt.
And considering that LSU’s pitching staff seemingly didn’t have enough depth to handle after staff aces Gage Jump and Luke Holman started the first two games of a series, the Tigers’ prospects of winning more than two consecutive games in the daily grind of post-season play seemed bleak.
LSU’s margin of error was slim. The Tigers could win with excellent pitching and adequate offense. But once past the games Jump and Holman started on the mound, LSU’s offense had to elevate to win slugfests while hoping Johnson could press the correct relief pitching buttons.
As it turned out, the Tigers’ relievers carried the team in the Chapel Hill Regional. Eleven LSU relievers appearing 15 times had a 2.13 ERA in 25.1 innings.
Sophomore Griffin Herring’s longest relief effort of his LSU career – 6.1 innings allowing one run – enabled the Tigers to beat Wofford 13-6 in a Sunday afternoon elimination game.
Junior Thatcher Hurd, who struggled all season, delivered 5.2 stunning innings allowing two runs as a starter in LSU’s 8-4 Sunday win over North Carolina that forced a winner-take-all championship game Monday night.
Senior Will Helmers pitched three times in the regional, allowing no runs and two hits in seven innings.
The Tigers missed the services of one of their best relievers. Vastly improved senior Christian Little wasn’t available for the regional after straining a lat muscle in the SEC tournament finals vs. Tennessee.
Two of LSU’s five starting pitchers – Nate Ackenhausen in Game 3 vs. Wofford and Sam Dutton in Game 5 vs. North Carolina – didn’t survive the first inning. The Tigers’ starters lasted 20.1 innings with an ERA of 6.64.
Without a doubt, LSU’s MVP of its 10-game postseason (4-1 SEC tourney, 3-2 NCAA) was freshman second baseman Steven “Monster” Milam, who hit a team-leading .386 with nine RBI and walk-off home runs in wins over South Carolina and Wofford.
Sophomore first baseman Jared Jones hit .306 with 6 of his 11 hits for home runs and a team-high 12 RBI.
LSU has 16 players – two graduate students, six seniors, seven juniors and one redshirt sophomore – eligible for the major league draft.
Johnson, as his nature, has already hit the reset button. He’ll be shopping in the transfer portal soon, mostly looking for pitchers.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com