Jay Johnson says Tulane is 'not even the same' from first meeting

LSU, one of the best teams in college baseball this season and hosts of one of the 16 regionals this weekend, will be opening the NCAA tournament against a Tulane team that went 19-40 overall. But Tigers head coach Jay Johnson was offering nothing but the utmost respect for the Green Wave.

Despite entering the AAC tournament with slim chances of winning many games there — let alone getting to the NCAA tournament — Tulane won five games in six days to secure the conference title. And it’s been a stark departure from the team LSU clipped, 11-5, on April 11.

“It’s not even the same. Literally grabbed my folder, I threw it in the garbage and just started watching the last two weeks. And credit to them. They’re very well coached. And again, I think I said this the other day, massive hat tip,” Johnson said.

Much of the credit from Johnson stems from Tulane doing this with a largely remade roster in Year 1 under head coach Jay Uhlman.

Uhlman spent many years on the West Coast at Oregon before joining the Tulane staff ahead of the 2020 season, which was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

And despite the lackluster overall record, Tulane did what every team hopes to do: Play their best at the most important time. They’ll face an elite LSU team, among others, in the regional. But it’s an LSU team that has plenty of respect for the team they’re facing on Friday.

“They went through some massive adversity last year. I mean they got a player at Ole Miss, I can’t remember where the catcher transferred to. I mean, they got gutted,” Johnson said. “When you go through coaching changes now with the current dynamic, that’s going to happen. And so for them to playing today, after all that, massive respect and hat tip.”

Johnson likes the way LSU has prepped for the weekend

Despite the 1-2 record in the SEC Tournament, LSU (43-15) will be hosting this weekend and getting to get prepped at home.

So far, so good for LSU according to Johnson. The team might be pretty refreshed.

“It’s been great,” Johnson said of the team’s preparation. “I feel great about it. You know, Friday in Hoover, we had a meeting and got some things in line, and then went right to work on how we were going to operate the week. Had another meeting on Saturday morning before we left and the itinerary was set: plans for the coaching staff, we went to work on some things with some guys right away.