Jay Johnson explains brief effort from LSU spot-starter Nate Ackenhousen in SEC Tournament title game

Jay Johnson was forced to tie an SEC record of using nine pitchers during LSU‘s 10-inning win against South Carolina on Saturday night. That means the Tigers are in for a slew of pitching changes throughout the day to keep Johnson’s pitching staff healthy for regionals next weekend.

Tigers pitcher Nate Ackenhousen logged the start on the mound for the Tigers, but was pulled after 2.2 innings after throwing 48 pitches (36 strikes) while striking out six of the nine batters he faced during his swift appearance.

“He’s been great,” Johnson told the SEC Network broadcast. “I wish we could let him keep going, but with what’s on the horizon, we can’t do it but really proud of them. Gonna let him go get this hitter then we’re gonna move on.”

Johnson reflected on how the Tigers had gotten to this point as well. Second baseman Steven Milam launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning against South Carolina on Saturday for a walk-off victory and punching the Tigers’ ticket to the conference title game.

“That was a special day for our team and for our program at the same time,” Johnson continued. “In the postseason, you have to master the art of moving on. So we kind of let it expire and then moved on to today.”

That was the second time LSU had to defeat South Carolina to advance in Hoover. They downed the Gamecocks in another thrilling 11-10 outing after a delay due to weather. This was after they beat Georgia 9-1 and Kentucky 11-0 in the opening two rounds.

Focusing on Sunday’s SEC Championship game, LSU first baseman Jared Jones hit a towering 471-foot home run into the parking lot in the bottom of the first to get things going. The wind is blowing toward the outfield in Hoover to help both offenses out and it was the only run scored before Ackenhousen was subbed.

“It could get hard and more importantly, the home run things is going to play big in this game,” Johnson said about the weather conditions.

Fans can watch the exciting finish to the SEC Championship game live on the SEC Network.

The Tigers are looking for their first SEC Tournament victory since 2017. If they were to pull off the upset, LSU would be the lowest-seeded team to even win the conference tournament as an 11 seed.