Jay Johnson thankful for electric atmosphere early in Baton Rouge Super Regional between LSU and Kentucky

The LSU Tigers had to wait over seven hours to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in their Baton Rouge Super Regional matchup in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday night. But it didn’t take long for the Tigers’ bats to get hot under the lights at Alex Box Stadium. The game finally got underway at 10:06 PM EST and LSU wasted little time in sparking a jolt of electricity into their home crowd. Tre’ Morgan blasted two home runs in the first four innings and Tommy White added another, much to the delight of their fans who had endured extensive delays. The Tigers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on Kentucky. In the fourth inning, LSU head coach Jay Johnson spoke with the ESPN News broadcast crew and he was thankful for all the fans that decided to stick around through the lengthy delays.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson was thankful for the fans

“Yeah, just a big hat tip to the fans for sticking around,” Johnson began.

The Tigers’ head coach then jokingly made a pitch to all the players currently in the transfer portal. “And yeah, I hope every good player in the transfer portal is watching us right now. This doesn’t exist anywhere else,” the LSU head coach said.

How did his team handle the exhausting seven-hour weather delay? “Yeah, we’ve got a veteran team. They know how to handle themselves. We had a couple meetings throughout and just had a couple check ins to not get too far away from the mindset we need to come out and execute when they say go,” said Johnson.

Following his interview, the Tigers’ offense continued to pile it on. They were dominant, jumping out to a 11-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was basically a home run derby for LSU, as four different players belted home runs through five innings.

Saturday night’s game was Game 1 of the Baton Rouge Super Regional Matchup. LSU continued to display why they were so dominant throughout the 2023 campaign. They’ve simply got a remarkable combination of power hitting plus some excellent pitching.

If the Tigers can hold on (and barring a major miracle, that’s likely), they’ll be just one win away from punching their tickets to the 2023 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

As of publication of this article, the start time for the Kentucky and LSU game on Sunday, June 11th has yet to be determined.