Jay Johnson reacts to Wofford's 5-run first inning: 'They ambushed Nate' Ackenhausen

The LSU Tigers came into the day on Sunday with a must-win game against the Wofford Terriers. However, as head coach Jay Johnson would admit, the Terriers ambushed his starting pitcher, Nate Ackenhausen.

Wofford scored five runs in the first inning, oftentimes using small ball plays like the squeeze to their advantage. Because of that, Johnson had a quick hook and pulled Ackenhausen after just two outs. That was a decision he explained to the ESPN broadcast during the third inning.

Try Fubo for FREE today and don’t miss any of the action!

“We can’t get two and three until you get one,” Jay Johnson said. “So, that’s why our best pitcher is on the mound right now. Wofford did a nice job in the first inning. They ambushed Nate. Now, we just need to stay poised and try to scratch a couple together and get back in the game.”

The pitcher that Jay Johnson ended up turning to was Griffin Herring. In an ideal world, he would have been an option for today’s second game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, it’s more important to get to that point.

Nate Ackenhausen struggling early against Wofford was a bit of a surprise. As a senior, he has plenty of experience and he’s had tons of success in big moments before. That includes in the SEC Tournament Championship when he pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. He was also a key figure in LSU’s success in Omaha last season. By pulling him early, he could also hypothetically return to pitch either later in the day or tomorrow if necessary.

Because of that quick five-run deficit, LSU needed to find a way to get to Wofford pitcher Camden Wicker, whose change-up proved to be a tough task early.

“He’s got a really good change-up and we’ve got to stay out of the bottom of the zone,” Johnson said. “We’ve got big strong guys with bat speed, but if they start early on it, they’re gonna get in trouble and a couple of them have. So, we’ve got to trust the ball to back it up and let it fall out of the zone or stand on it. When we’ve done that we’ve gotten a couple of good swings on it.”

As of the fourth inning, LSU hasn’t entirely been able to catch up to Wofford. However, the Tigers are chipping into the Terriers’ lead, with three unanswered runs since then.