One player who Jay Johnson clearly trusts during <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/lsu-tigers/">LSU’s</a> run in Omaha is <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/riley-cooper-180497/">Riley Cooper</a>. Now, in four games, he’s turned to Cooper three times out of the bullpen and likely won’t hesitate if he needs to do so again.



After beating <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/wake-forest-demon-deacons/">Wake Forest</a> to stay alive, Johnson explained where this trust in Cooper comes from.



“I think when you’re physical and bigger and stronger, he’s one of the strongest guys, pound for pound, on the team, you tend to recover better,” Jay Johnson said. “That’s part of what makes him – him is the stuff that shows up. But again I’ve said this before, probably over the two weeks before we got here, it’s not about spin rate right now. It’s not about velocity. It’s about pitch execution and winners. And he is a winner. And that’s why I believe in him.”



To this point in the College World Series, Cooper has pitched 5.2 scoreless innings. On top of that, he’s struck out six hitters while only allowing five runners to reach base via a walk or a hit.



One notable game for Cooper was against <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/tennessee-volunteers/">Tennessee</a>, where he worked around a bases loaded situation and tossed three scoreless innings. After that win, Jay Johnson broke down his decision to use Cooper in the game.



“Blake [Money] had been throwing the ball really, really well. He was definitely part of the plan tonight. I didn’t think they were seeing Nate [Ackenhausen] well, and I think Riley is about as comparable and close to Nate as possible and I wanted to stay with that look because they were in between,” <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/lsu-tigers/news/jay-johnson-details-decision-to-use-riley-cooper-in-relief-against-tennessee/">Johnson said</a>.



“And, you know, when you’re pressing a little bit, when you’re in an elimination game, and you’re trying to chase runs late, he’s the type of pitcher that if you give him an inch he can take a mile, and he did what he did tonight.”



<h2 id="h-jay-johnson-on-the-thought-process-with-paul-skenes">Jay Johnson on the thought process with Paul Skenes</h2>



Most people expect LSU to start Paul Skenes in an elimination game against Wake Forest. However, Jay Johnson hasn’t confirmed that will happen. Instead, he broke down his thought process on using Skenes.



“We’ll talk to him tonight,” <a href="https://www.on3.com/college/lsu-tigers/news/jay-johnson-reveals-thought-process-with-paul-skenes-in-game-2/">Jay Johnson said</a>. “I think it’s a day-by-day deal. We have a pre-throw process that we go through with pitchers and their availability and testing and recovery and all of those types of things. So we still need to go through that tomorrow before we make any decision.”

Riley Cooper

LSU Tigers

Jay Johnson explains his trust in Riley Cooper

Southeastern Conference

Organization Logo

Teams

Fan Sites

Forums

Shows

team-link

College Football News

College Football Player Rankings

College Football Rankings

College Football Playoff

College Basketball News

Women's Sports

College

NIL News

NIL Valuation

NIL Deals

NIL Deal Tracker

Sports Business

Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal News

NCAA Transfer Portal

Transfer Portal Rankings

Transfer Portal Team Rankings

Transfer Portal

NCAA Transfer Portal Home

Football Recruiting

Basketball Recruiting

Database

Team Rankings

Player Rankings

Industry Comparison

Commitments

Recruiting Prediction Machine

Recruiting

High School News

Schools

High School Search

Rankings

High School Rankings

Scores

High School Scores

High School

NFL Draft

NFL Draft News

Draft By Stars

College Draft History

College Draft Totals

NBA Draft

NBA Draft News

Draft

NASCAR

Culture

Sports Betting

About

On3 App

Advertise

Press

Contact

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

News

Roster

Schedule

LSU Draft History

[site-name] Draft History

Transfers

FB Recruiting

BB Recruiting

Fan Site

Team Store

team image

The Bengal Tiger

The Ponderosa

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Jay Johnson explains his trust in Riley Cooper

Jaden Rashada

Damon Wilson

Sherrone Moore

Looking ahead

Transfer Portal Intel