After falling against No. 4 North Carolina yesterday by a score of 2-6, LSU baseball has officially found itself in an elimination game against Wofford later this afternoon. Even after the tough loss, coach Jay Johnson didn’t hesitate while speaking with the media and displayed full confidence in his 2024 roster to be able to bounce back in a major way.
LSU coach Jay Johnson shows full confidence in his roster ahead of today’s elimination matchup
It wasn’t the best showing that we’ve seen from the purple and gold, but even following a loss vs. No. 4 North Carolina, the Tigers out of Baton Rouge are still alive and have a chance to keep their hopes going with a victory over Wofford later this afternoon.
Just a month ago, LSU baseball looked like a long shot to even make the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament, but after an impressive back half of the season, coach Jay Johnson and his squad pulled off several miracles and are now one of three teams remaining in the Chapel Hill Regional.
Starting things off with a comeback victory over Wofford in walk-off fashion, the team was riding high entering the winner’s bracket matchup against No. 4 North Carolina. Unfortunately for the Tigers, a few powerful swings of the bat from the Tar Heels ended up slowing some of their momentum, and they’ve now found themselves in a rematch of sorts against the Terriers as both teams are just one game away from being eliminated all together.
“We’ve worked too hard to get here to let a little disappointment get in the way of what’s in front of us,” coach Jay Johnson said while speaking on his roster heading into today’s matchup. “We’ve done it in a regional, we’ve done it in Omaha twice and I feel good about what we have available. I really do.”
One of the big question marks facing the purple and gold revolves around their pitching room, as they went with their top two pitchers – Gage Jump and Luke Holman – the past two days. In turn, it’s now a matter of who’s arm is hot and who woke up feeling the best.
Additionally, it’s important to remember that it’s not all on the defense this afternoon. LSU baseball has seen its offense cool off quite a bit since the 2024 SEC Tournament came to a close, putting up just six runs in their last two games after totaling as many as nine in four out of the five games in their conference bracket.
Still, while speaking with the media following yesterday’s tough loss against the Tar Heels, coach Jay Johnson displayed notable confidence in his team, specifically looking at how they’ve performed in years past while facing elimination.
“This is my first time in four years that I haven’t been sitting on 2-0, but the best wins I’ve ever had in the postseason – including in Omaha last year – came after you were in elimination games. And I have full confidence in our team that we can execute in a way that – our goal isn’t to just get out of here now. Our goal is to have the best day that we’ve had together as a team tomorrow.”
Despite ultimately coming out on top as the 2023 College Baseball World Series National Champions, the Tigers weren’t without struggles along the way just last season. In the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament, LSU baseball found themselves with a loss twice, and most notably went 1-2 in their respective conference tournament, showing that taking a stumble or two isn’t necessarily the end of it all.
Whether that can turn out to be the case once again this season is yet to be seen, but for the 2024 Bayou Bengals, it all starts later today, as they’ll take on the Wofford Terriers (42-19) at 11:00 a.m. CST in the elimination game of the Chapel Hill Regional. The game will once again take place in Chapel Hill, NC in Bryson Field at Boshamer Stadium and will be available to watch live on ESPN.
If the Tigers manage to come out on top, they’ll have to then face a quick turnaround, as No. 4 North Carolina awaits the eventual winner of this afternoon’s game for a 5:00 p.m. CST matchup.
Leave a Reply