LSU Baseball Head Coach Jay Johnson addressed the media on Wednesday after getting back into the win column following a convincing victory over its in-state opponent McNeese State, by a final score of 10-3.
Coming off a disappointing three-game series last weekend on the road that resulted in the purple and gold being swept by the No.9-ranked Auburn Tigers, being able to take advantage of the opportunity to recalibrate and improve on both sides of the diamond remains a point of emphasis looking toward upcoming competitive in-conference matchups.
“We’re playing, planning, preparing, and trying to execute in a way that we do in every single game that we play, and the players know that,” Head Coach Jay Johnson said. “The difference is that we’re playing [against] a Super Regional caliber team every single weekend.”
Sophomore left-handed starting pitcher Kade Anderson recorded his worst outing of the season in the first game of the series against the Auburn Tigers, finishing with a statline of: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, and six strikeouts with a total of 85 pitches thrown.
However, through facing such adversity at this particular point of the regular season, being able to make slight adjustments to what has already been considered to be a dominant pitching rotation provides opportunities to foster advanced levels of efficiency and production.
“My goal is to turn any adversity or failure into something that’s going to be a positive… I think our best baseball is ahead of us,” Johnson said. “[This] helps us to be peaking at the right time.”
Behind the bats coming alive and stringing together promising battles at the plate, the Tigers experienced a much-needed offensive explosion during the fourth inning of the game against McNeese State.
Scoring four runs in consecutive plate appearances, these offensive efforts should serve as a representation of just how dangerous this talented batting lineup can be when synchronized.
“This was one of my favorite innings of the year,” Johnson said. “They looked into professional hitting… that’s the team I know. They were locked back in just on how to execute… that can get away from you in the context of a long season.”
In terms of the availability of certain Tiger players facing injuries, it was announced yesterday that junior right-handed pitcher Gavin Guirdy will undergo a procedure that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.
Guirdy has not pitched this year, due to battling a serious back injury that was sustained on Feb. 20. The estimated recovery timeline after the surgery will be approximately three to four months.
No.8-ranked LSU Tigers have their sights on carrying this momentum into a pivotal, in-conference matchup against the No.21-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. The first game of this three-game series will take place on Thursday, April 17, at 7:00 p.m. CST at Alex Box Stadium.
This matchup will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
