Jordan Thompson explains how he handled earlier CWS struggles, bouncing back for final game

The NCAA Baseball Tournament wasn’t a rousing success for LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson, but he ended things with a bang, securing a national title on Monday.

The run was a microcosm of Thompson’s time in Baton Rouge, as he’s had a rollercoaster career with the Tigers. It’s evident the ups-and-downs were all worth it for the Tigers ballplayer though, as you can’t beat lifting that shiny national championship trophy.

During LSU’s gigantic victory on Monday, Thompson went 2-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBI. That includes an RBI single that started the second-inning rally that gave LSU the lead it would never surrender. 

Afterwards, Thompson explained how he handled his earlier struggles during the College World Series, and how much bouncing back for the finale meant to him.

“I did hear them, I thought that was pretty cool,” Thompson responded, asked how it felt to hear the roar of the crowd for him. “I think coming into today, we all knew this was going to be the last game of the season no matter if we won or lost. We just really wanted to leave it all on the line and not give an inch.

“So I think not only for myself but everyone just came out here ready to go. From the moment that we all woke up and saw each other in the morning, when we had our team meeting, we knew what we wanted to do today and we knew what it was going to take for us to be able to accomplish it. I just can’t be prouder of my guys.”

Alas, it’s obvious Thompson means a lot to his teammates, as well as LSU skipper Jay Johnson. After the Tigers won it all on Monday, Johnson harkened back to how far back the duo goes.

“We go way back, back before any of this LSU stuff. When he was a 15-year-old kid I was trying to recruit him to Arizona as a pitcher. I remember seeing him walking by at a tournament. He had just picked LSU over Arizona. And he just looked at me like, go like this, and I’d shake my head and say, I’m still mad at you. I’m still mad at you,” Johnson said with a laugh.

While their story took many twists and turns, Jay Johnson and Jordan Thompson have delivered LSU a title, and they’ll forever be immortalized for that.