Jay Johnson previews Tennessee ahead of matchup in College World Series

The LSU Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers are getting ready to play in the College World Series. Ahead of that meeting, LSU head coach Jay Johnson broke down the matchup with Tennessee.

As Johnson explained, LSU may have already seen Tennessee this season, but the Volunteers have made changes since the two met on the field.

“They made some switches to how they lined up their pitching, obviously,” Jay Johnson said. “And they have a great staff. So, they’re going to be able to conserve runs, or save runs I guess because they have [a] good staff.”

Back in March, LSU took two out of three from Tennessee in a series that was played in Baton Rouge. The two wins for LSU came in competitive games, though the Volunteers were able to flex offensively in the third game to win 14-7.

“Offensively, a lot of the same guys are still playing, and they’re maybe playing a little bit better. Playing confidently. You know, much like us, they’re maybe a little different than us, they had a very tough stretch to begin. I guess it was the same with us. We had a tough stretch to begin SEC play in terms of who they were playing. They kind of realigned some things in terms of how they were lining up their pitching, and have pitched well.”

As Jay Johnson explained, he’s not surprised that LSU ended up drawing a talented team like Tennessee in the College World Series. For the Tigers, they wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

“But, that’s not a surprise. It’s a good, talented team. As I said earlier when you look at the bracket and go like, ‘Okay, if we’re there, who are we playing?’ My first thought, we’re going to play Tennessee. So, really not a surprise to me. Great team, great opponent, and honestly don’t know that we would have it any other way. If you’re going to win a national championship, making it even more validating is playing the best teams,” Johnson said.

“And, for us, it’ll be we had to beat a team [Kentucky] again in the Super Regional that we won a series against that was a very good team, and then you get another SEC opponent in game one of the College World Series, and I think it’s really exciting and [a] great night for our program, and a great night for college baseball coming up.”

Jay Johnson on what it means to lead LSU to Omaha

In just his second season as the head coach at LSU, Jay Johnson has already led the Tigers to the College World Series. Ahead of their first game there, Johnson opened up about what it meant to lead this team to Omaha.

“It means a lot. It started right after kind of the heartbreak of losing in the College World Series. I mean, the opening game in 2021, we had the lead against Kumar Rocker and Vanderbilt late, and we played great that night. That was a tough loss in extra innings, and then got eliminated by Stanford. Then they approached me and said, ‘What do you think about this?’ Probably wouldn’t have gone anywhere else. … Made this the place. I thought, ‘Wow. What a once in a lifetime, once in a career opportunity, and dream come true,’” Johnson said.

“To be a part of this. … I mean, I grew up — I’m 12 years old, I had an LSU baseball hat, in Northern California. Watching the purple jerseys run around Omaha all the time. So to get to coach this team in the College World Series is, I’d have a hard time putting that into words, but it’s pretty special.”

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