Jay Johnson lays out pitching plan against Tennessee

LSU and Tennessee will meet for the second time at the College World Series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. as the SEC powerhouses face off in an elimination game.

The Tigers and Vols opened CWS play against each other on Saturday, with LSU earning a 6-3 win. Tennessee might have the advantage this time around, though, as the Vols won’t have to face LSU ace Paul Skenes.

As for what the pitching matchup will look like, for Tennessee, it’s simple. The Vols will turn to Drew Beam, who is 9-4 with a 3.78 ERA on the year in 16 starts.

For LSU, it’s a little more complicated. Tigers coach Jay Johnson shared the plan for his team on the mound against Tennessee after Wake Forest beat LSU 3-2 Monday night.

“Yeah, we have nine guys available to pitch tomorrow. And we’ll choose one of them. And he’ll get guys out for as long as he can,” Johnson said. “Then we’ll go to the next guy and we’ll go to the next guy and we’ll go to the next guy until we figure out how to get 27 outs against a really good team.”

As mentioned, Skenes won’t be available for the Tigers after throwing 123 pitches on Saturday. No. 2 starter Ty Floyd and sophomore righty Thatcher Hurd also won’t be available after tossing 97 and 65 pitches on Monday against the Demon Deacons.

The Tigers will need others to step up to stay alive at the College World Series as they will face Tennessee without several of their top arms.

LSU players prepared to fight for season vs. Tennessee

While beating Tennessee without a few of its top arms won’t be easy, LSU isn’t giving up yet.

Their backs may be against the wall for the first time in a long time, but according to first baseman Tre’ Morgan, the mindset of the team will not change.

“Nothing changes for us mentally,” Morgan said. “We always go out there and try to win one pitch at a time. We always play like it’s our last time playing the game. So we’re going to show up tomorrow and keep the same mentality, play like it’s our last time playing together.”

Morgan showed up for the Tigers on Tuesday, hitting an RBI triple and a clutch stand-up double in the eighth inning to help LSU’s offense. In an attempt to score and break the game’s tie, Morgan was called out when sliding into home plate at the top of the eighth inning, which ended up being a huge play given that Wake Forest themselves would break the tie in the bottom of the eighth.

Losing is never easy, but it’s even harder when it happens in heartbreaking fashion at the end of a game. But according to pitcher Ty Floyd, the Tigers are still excited for the opportunity that lies in front of them.

“I think that’s what makes postseason baseball so exciting, that a lot of people’s backs are against the wall and stuff,” Floyd said. “I know we’ve been here. This postseason we haven’t been here, but I know we’ll come out hot tomorrow and stuff. And I know we’re going to do our plan tomorrow. We’ll execute all we can.”