Jay Johnson, Steven Milam react to LSU's walk-off win over South Carolina
There’s hardly ever a dull moment when it comes to LSU baseball — especially when it comes to the postseason. The hottest team in baseball has done it again, pulling out a 12-11 win over South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in the SEC Tournament semi-finals by way of a two-run walk-off home run by freshman second baseman Steven Milam in the 10th inning.
It came with controversy, though, as LSU was called for catcher interference as South Carolina attempted to steal home in the top of the 10th inning, therefore scoring the run and advancing the runner at the plate to first base. Jay Johnson was ejected for arguing the call, but no more runs were scored, allowing for Milam to be the hero.
After the walk-off, the team mobbed Johnson who came out of the tunnel. The Tigers are headed to the SEC title game on Sunday afternoon against the winner of Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Here’s what Jay Johnson and Steven Milam had to say after the win on SEC Network.
Head coach Jay Johnson
On the toughness of his LSU team…
“We’re down 8-0. Forget the late game theatrics. We were down 8-0 and found a way to win. This guy [Milam] has been unbelievable all week. The pitchers [came through]. Will Helmers hadn’t pitched in a month and got us two scoreless innings. Kade Anderson had great poise to keep it a one run game. Gavin bent but didn’t break. I’m still not sure what happened on the play that they called the balk, I’ll get an explanation on that, but it doesn’t matter because these guys are tough. Toughness is defined by this. We were 3-12 in SEC play and we just won our 40th game of the season and the NCAA Tournament hasn’t started yet. That’s toughness. We’re playing better than anybody in the country right now.”
On the freshmen stepping up…
‘They just needed some time. They’re what I call wheelhouse players. They can switch hit, but they’re left-handed hitters, they’re athletic, and they have an aptitude for playing winning baseball. They just needed some time. They were so talented that they forced my hand to play them. There’s not another team in the SEC starting three freshmen this year – at premium positions I might add. The future is bright at LSU with these three guys leading the charge. They’re going to be great players for a long time.”
On what happened after the controversial play…
“The umpire crew said you have to leave right now or else there’s going to be a suspension and we fought to hard to get to this position so I basically walked off the field, but it’s a hard position to be in because the way these guys are fighting, I want them to know I’m fighting for them too. This is the story of our team, you got Travinski – a fifth year senior who’s probably 12 years older than him [Milam] – has a disciplined at bat to get on base, then this guy is one of the batters in the country.
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“I met this kid when he was in seventh grade. There are guys that love baseball and there are guys who have it in their blood and he has it in his blood. He’s a great player, a leader, and a winner.”
How he heard they had won…
“Somebody came running down the tunnel. I was all the way in the back of the tunnel and someone said it was a walk-off home run.”
LSU 2B Steven Milam
On the walk-off at-bat…
“I saw him throwing fastballs to Travinski and he was missing up. Then i had to slow myself down and try to pass the sticks to the next guy and took two fastballs to get it to 1-1, then I got a pitch I could handle and put a good swing on it. I was just trying to get it to the guy behind me.”
Who was talking with you leading up to the at-bat?
“Coach Wanaka and coach Yeskie told us to slow down and pass it to the next guy and we weren’t going to win it on one swing of the bat. Somebody is going to win it eventually and Travinski worked a really good walk, then I was able to go up, keep my heart rate down, and get a pitch I could hit and that was it. I was trying to hit something low and hard and it ended up getting out of the park.”
