LSU Baseball Head Coach Jay Johnson spoke with the media Thursday ahead of the Tigers opening SEC series against Missouri.

With the SEC being one of the most dominant conferences in college baseball, it's no surprise that questions about the team’s mindset and approach going into conference play were some of the first to be asked.

“The things this team does well…if they continue to do those well they can find success,” Johnson said.

Johnson thinks it's important not to place extreme importance on conference play, and to take a less intimidating approach to the series.

“There’s a recognition that the competition level in our league is superior to everywhere in college baseball,” Johnson said.

“That's awesome because when you have good players that are confident and talented, that usually brings out the best in them and that's what I'm excited for. Other than that it’s really just business as usual,” Johnson said.

Johnson spoke about his expectations for this team in SEC play, a conference which can make or break a team’s season. He spoke about the importance of not placing too much pressure on one game or one series, no matter what the result is.

“You’re going to get bloodied a bit as you go through this thing…I think our response to some of that adversity…I see some things that make me optimistic,” Johnson said.

When asked about the ongoing battle for the starting third baseman between Michael Braswell III and Tanner Reaves, Johnson said he will do what's best for the team that day.

“You set the game up to win that day,” Johnson said.

“You’ll see one game where one guy goes the whole time and the other guy goes the whole time the next game,” Johnson said of his third basemen.

The Tigers will kickoff their SEC weekend series against Missouri Friday at 6:30 at Alex Box Stadium.