It's no secret to anyone, particularly not those around the SEC: This year's offense for LSU baseball is among the best to ever do it -- at any program.
But it doesn't only factor in for the players in the batter's box or running the bases, as head coach Jay Johnson explained on SportsTalk this week
Listen to the full interview with Jay Johnson in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"Everybody is contributing at a really, really high level," Johnson told Mike Detillier and Bobby Hebert. "And I think more than anything it gives our team a lot of confidence of, we know we are never out of the game. And so if the pitcher can just execute, the defense plays clean and we keep ourselves within striking distance, our team believes it has a great chance to win. So I would say that’s probably the biggest impact it has, is it allows everybody to relax — in a good way — and just focus on their job because they know we’re going to score some runs."
That's certainly been the case for the top-ranked Tigers this year, having won 16 games by double-digits. Heading into a weekend series vs Auburn the Tigers are first in the SEC West with a 15-5 conference record. Only Vanderbilt (16-5) has a better conference record atop the SEC East. LSU's 36-8 overall record is tied with South Carolina
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LSU is batting .318 as a team with 87 home runs. Their 401 RBIs as a team leads the SEC by a wide margin. Superstar Dylan Crews sits atop the conference with a .486 batting average, also having clobbered 13 home runs and 53 RBIs. Still, there are no weekends off in the SEC, and the Tigers will have to keep their nose to the ground if they want to retain their top spot heading into the SEC Tournament later this month.
The Tigers enter the weekend on a 7-game conference winning streak, having swept back-to-back series against Ole Miss and Alabama.
"Whether you’re playing the first-place team or the best team or the 14th-place team, there’s really not a whole lot different in terms of what you have to do to be able to win a game or a series," Johnson said. "I think probably the best quality of our team this year has been their consistency and being able to show up in all of these environments and be successful. I’m really proud of them for that and we’re to have to continue to do it this weekend at Auburn.”
MORE FROM JAY JOHNSON
ON GETTING TOMMY WHITE OUT OF THE PORTAL
“He’s one of the best clutch hitters I’ve ever seen and he’s worked really hard to become a good third baseman. People ask me about it all the time like, how’d you get him, what was the biggest fact? And honestly what we did last year with Jacob Berry who transferred from Arizona and was our DH at Arizona as a freshman and came here and we made him into a good third baseman. And that was very appealing to Tommy, because it was the same thing he wanted to do. So a good development story right there helped us and he’s worked really hard, and not only is he one of the best hitters in the country, power hitters, RBIs, he’s turned himself into a good third baseman and he deserves a lot of credit for that.”
ON DYLAN CREWS' PERFORMANCE/LEADERSHIP
“He’s the best college baseball player I’ve ever seen and he’s a better person, he’s a great leader for our team. The minor leagues will be very short-lived for him. He’s ready to go. Just an example, this guy is grinding, he plays hard. So on Mondays the only time he gets on his feet, so to speak, is basically to go to treatment or go to class. And you think of the self-discipline it takes for the player to just know what they need to do to get themselves prepared to play. He’s already thinking that way now. And the talent is special, but the person is more special, and he’s got a long and bright future ahead of him, and I’m enjoying every day I get a chance to coach him, because that’s a guy you’re pretty certain will never come around again.”
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