Eight national championships for the LSU baseball program are great, but eight is probably not enough considering the pace Coach Jay Johnson is on since taking over the program in 2022.
Johnson is the first coach to win two national championships in his four seasons at a school.
“I’m so proud right now,” Johnson said after the clinching game. “It’s not to be taken for granted. Being here two years ago, that was special. Greatest night in my life. This is equal and maybe even tops in some ways.”
Johnson was motivated to put the Tigers back on top of the college baseball mountain after they lost to North Carolina in the championship game of the Chapel Hill Regional in 2024.
He already had a great freshman class coming in but had holes to fill as there were only 12 players coming back from the 2024 squad.
Johnson was relentless in the transfer portal and brought in big-time talent in Anthony Eyanson, Daniel Dickinson, and Luis Hernandez.
Not only did the Tigers have great players, they also had great character as returning players like Josh Pearson, Jake Brown and Michael Braswell had to sacrifice playing time.
“Our motto for the year was ‘tough and together,’ and I’ve never seen a team more mentally tough and consistent,” says Johnson. “I mean, we went through probably the hardest schedule in college baseball, and we had one hiccup, one (getting swept by Auburn.) But other than that, they dominated the season.”
Hearing from the players, one of Johnson’s greatest qualities is his communication skills. It starts when he first recruits a player like center fielder Chris Stanfield, a transfer from Auburn.
“He’s the man,” said Stanfield speaking of coach Jay Johnson. “We come in and we know what our jobs are, he lays it out for us, and makes it very easy to understand so for us to just go out there and be ourselves that’s what LSU is,” Stanfield said.
And LSU is also becoming a pitching factory. Two years ago, Johnson and his staff to a talented, but raw Paul Skenes and turned him into one of the best pitchers in college baseball history. Ty Floyd was also a first-round pick that year.
In 2024, Kade Anderson couldn’t get outs against SEC hitters, this year Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie turned Anderson into a top three overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft.
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Anthony Eyanson also won 12 games and struck out 152 in 108 innings. He could be drafted in the second round.
Chase Shores went from a struggling Sunday starter to a lights out relief pitcher in the College World Series.
“If you’re a pitcher and you don’t want to come here right now, you are out to lunch, you are not thinking clearly, because that’s three dudes who pitched in the series that will all be in the Major Leagues within 18 months,” Johnson said.
That quote right there shows Johnson is always recruiting, which is essential for building a program that can dominate a sport like Skip Bertman did in the 1990s.
LSU will spend the next few days celebrating this national championship, but by the end of the week, Johnson will be putting the pieces together for a run at a ninth national championship.
LSU might need another Intimidator at Alex Box Stadium, because Johnson could approach what Bertman did in the 1990s.