The LSU baseball team is headed to North Carolina for the Regionals. The Tigers will play Wofford at 11 AM. Coach Jay Johnson’s team is one of the hottest in all of college baseball, as they’ve won 18 of their last 24, so he likes his team’s chances of winning on the road.
“I think the pitching dynamic is good,” he said. “I think the at-bats have certainly gotten better. I think we’ve played very good defense. I feel like we have an identity and we have the confidence, and that’s what makes us tough to play [against].”
The Tigers won four in a row in the SEC Tournament before losing to Tennessee, the top national seed, in the championship game. Shortstop Michael Braswell says they believe they can win every game.
“But I’ll be honest with you, I cannot say with full honesty in the beginning of the season that we felt that way,” he acknowledged. “I can… I can be honest with you and say that. I mean, now we’re in the mindset of, ‘look, we are the LSU Tigers and we can go out there and beat anybody at any time.’”
LSU’s bullpen got some big outs during the SEC Tournament and the Tigers scored 46 runs in five games. Third baseman Tommy White says they are putting barrels on balls, adding, “hard contact, not trying to do too much with the baseball. Just, you know, hitting it where it’s pitched and, uh, moving the guy over when he needs to be moved. Nothing really special. Oh, and taking our walks, too, has been big. I think at the beginning of the year, we were swinging a little early, but, you know, taking our walks and seeing pitches has been a big help too.”
In more college baseball news, the Ragin Cajuns are in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th time, and for the second time in three years they’ll play in the College Station Regional as they take on Texas at 5 PM. Coach Matt Deggs’ team won the Sun Belt Regular season championship, but went 0-and-2 in the conference tournament. This is the third consecutive year UL Lafayette has made the NCAA Tournament. Plus, Grambling State is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010 after winning the SWAC Title. The Tigers had to overcome a loss to Florida A&M and had to rally to beat Jackson State in the SWAC Title game to receive an automatic bid. Finally, Louisiana Tech is headed to the Fayetteville regional, and Nichols and Tulane are headed to the Corvallis, Oregon regionals.
