GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU coach Jay Johnson had a flashback to that 2023 national championship season over the weekend.
He remembered a conversation he had with center fielder Dylan Crews after he went as the second overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft that July by Washington.
“You know what you have right after you lose a game,” Johnson said Crews told him. “I remember that. We were always right back on it.”
LSU lost the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, 5-4, to Omaha, and won the nightcap, 12-1, after taking a 5-0 lead through four innings.
On 10 out of 17 occasions in the 2023 season, LSU won the next game after a one-game losing “streak,” including after the first eight losses and after each of its two losses in Omaha, Nebraska, at the College World Series. After falling, 3-2, to No. 1 Wake Forest in its second game of the CWS, LSU beat Tennessee, 5-0, and won three more in a row before a 24-4 loss to Florida in game two of the national championship series. Then the Tigers won the best-of-three series for title with an 18-4 victory over the Gators.
“I thought they responded great,” Johnson said of the 12-1 win over Omaha. “We kicked it into another gear.”
LSU had 13 hits in that win after being no-hit until the eighth inning of the 5-4 loss.
“We’ll be much better Monday night.”
The No. 2 Tigers (6-1) host Nicholls State (5-2) at 6 p.m. Monday at Alex Box Stadium before playing No. 19 Dallas Baptist (6-1) in Arlington, Texas, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, followed by Kansas State at 2 p.m. Friday in Frisco, Texas. LSU then plays Nebraska and Sam Houston at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at Frisco.
“I’m excited to have five games this week,” Johnson said. “I want to get guys in.”
Junior right-hander Gavin Guidry, for example, has not yet pitched this season after being one of the Tigers’ top relievers last season. He had been experimenting with new pitches for a possible role as a starter. Guidry is expected to get the start Monday night or pitch in relief.
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