The first thing Jay Johnson did after LSU baseball punched its ticket to the College World Series was ... take his time.
As LSU's head coach sat down for his post-game press conference, he apologized for making them wait through the Tigers' extended celebration following an 8-3 win over Kentucky that landed a Super Regional crown for the first time since 2017.
"That's special out there," he said, "and did not want to rush off the field."
And much like Kim Mulkey with LSU women's basketball earlier this year, it was also a celebration of some promises delivered on ahead of schedule. Johnson had been to the CWS with Arizona twice in five seasons before taking the job in Baton Rouge from a coaching legend in Paul Mainieiri. He knew that with the baseball culture built and established at LSU, he could get this group there, too.
"Coming here was a big move, personally, and professionally just had a vision of what tonight would look like," he said. "And I wanted these guys to experience that so bad."
It was the opposite of the end-of-season press conference the coach had to deliver a year earlier, with his team getting into the winner's bracket at the Hattiesburg Regional only to lose twice to host Southern Miss and be eliminated. A Super Regional in Year 1 would've been ahead of schedule, but it was clearly within grasp.
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Still, there were questions to answer and positions to improve -- particularly on the pitching. LSU did that in the transfer portal, most notably with superstar ace Paul Skenes, who delivered a vintage performance in Game 1, a 14-0 win for the Tigers. Another transfer in Tommy White delivered big as well, with four RBIs in the Super Regional after struggling in the SEC Tournament and Baton Rouge regional. And of course, Dylan Crews was already in town, the player widely expected to go No. 1 overall and batted .579 in postseason play with 8 RBIs.
It all combined for as dominant a postseason run as LSU has seen, with a perfect 5-0 record as the team ships out to Omaha.
"I had 2023 on my mind when I came here," Johnson said. "Dylan Crews was a large reason I accepted this job. ... That's a generational player. To get to coach him for two years, we worked our way through some things we just had to improve last year. We won 40 games. Played in a Regional final against a team that's still playing today. And it's almost like two years have been wrapped into one."
Still, there's more work to do. Johnson wouldn't go so far as to claim relief that he was able to land a team in Omaha in Year 2. It's about a lot more than that.
"This was about the 35 or 38 guys on my team. And them getting to dogpile on this field. ... If I said I felt relief, that would be taking away what this is really about. And that's the players working, all the blood, sweat and tears in the bucket, for this opportunity," Johnson said. "And I'm really just happy for them. I'm happy for our program. I'm so honored to be here. I'm happy for the fans. Talk about an unbelievable performance."
LSU's side of the CWS bracket is still being set, with the Stanford-Texas and Southern Miss-Tennessee super regionals set for a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday. They already know that top overall seed Wake Forest will be there. The other side of the eight-team bracket includes 2. Florida, 7. Virginia, TCU and Oral Roberts.
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MORE FROM JAY JOHNSON
On improved bullpen performance
A potential trouble spot for LSU all season has been an at-times shaky bullpen. That wasn't the case in the supers. Between Blake Money, Riley Cooper and Gavin Guidry, the LSU bullpen accounted for 7 innings over two games, allowing 3 and no runs while striking out six batters. LSU used just five pitchers total, compared to 10 for Kentucky.
"I never doubted the talent," Johnson said. "I think we just needed to help them get lined up a little bit better mentally. I think the two things that we really focused on were making sure that they were ready to get the first hitter out when they come in the game. Like, we're bringing you in to get that guy out to start with. And when something goes wrong, just to be able to reset and get to the next pitch. And the two guys who pitched tonight, they pitched tonight because they're winners. I mean, it's no accident that big boy has been to Omaha twice and has pitched there and helped us get there twice. I mean, I think that's the second Super Regional win for him."
On freshman Gavin Guidry
"That dude is something else. He's got 'it.' And I was joking the other day but after the news with [Wes Johnson taking the Georgia HC job] broke, after we won the Regional, he popped his head in my office, 'doesn't matter who is calling the pitch, I'll strike everybody out anyways. Have a good night. See you tomorrow.'
"Takes some kind of confidence to do that. Those guys are special. Great performances all the way through for the bullpen down the stretch."
On Ty Floyd
"I'm so proud of him. There was a point last year, and I know exactly when it was, and he was struggling a little bit because this guy's talented. And we needed him to believe in himself kind of equating to his talent. And I just brought him in and said you're going to pitch, you're going to pitch a lot. And we'll take the reins off and I just want you to go for it. And he did. ... I asked him to come out of the pen early this year because of the injuries thing. And it may not seem like a big deal now, but first Sunday of the year he closed three innings against Kansas State, closed. And it became evident we need to just put you to Saturday and go for it.
"Because Paul has been so out-of-this-world good, I think people have really missed how good a season Ty Floyd has had."
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