Jay Johnson considers whether LSU 'set the tone' in first NCAA Tournament game

LSU baseball got off to a nice start in NCAA Tournament play on Friday at the Baton Rouge regional, beating up on a Tulane team that was lucky to even be in the field by a 7-2 score. Ace starter Paul Skenes got the nod vs. the Green Wave and threw the first complete game of his career to pick up the win while LSU’s offense mustered seven runs without hitting a home run.

According to head coach Jay Johnson, it was just good baseball. After the game, he was asked if the Tigers set the tone in their first game of the regional and Johnson answered resoundingly that yes, it was a tone-setting performance. He really loved that LSU was able to get guys home without having to knock balls out of the park. Even though this group is known for their ability to blast the long ball, Johnson says not to overlook their ability to score runs in other ways.

“I mean, it’s good baseball is what it was. I mean, couple sacrifice bunts, couple sacrifice flies, two ground balls to the middle of the field with a man on third with less than two outs. These are things that we’ve done well, honestly, but it gets overshadowed because you’ve got seven guys with 10 or more homers. And we walk a ton and those types of things.”

Johnson went on to explain that he stresses versatility to his team. He believes that there’s no predicting what kind of unique factors you’ll deal with in a given game, so you have to be ready and able to win in a variety of ways.

“And different games require you to do different things,” the LSU coach continued. “My deal with them, from day one, is always you’ve got to be able to win any type of game in a big field, in a small field, one-run game, a slugfest, pitchers’ duel, wind blowing in, wind blowing out. Doesn’t matter. We have to be functional.”

Against Tulane, the Tigers were ready to win in a new way again, with Skenes throwing a full game for the first time while the guys at the plate knocked in seven runs without needing a homer. That, says Jay Johnson, was a functional performance.

“We were definitely functional today. I think they’re very confident in how we were going to play offense today and played really well.”