By the time fourth-seeded LSU takes the field in its thrice-delayed SEC tournament opener Thursday at approximately 4:30 p.m. vs. Kentucky in Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium, it will be five days since the Tigers ended the regular-season with their first-ever road sweep of Vanderbilt in Nashville.
LSU (37-18 overall, 17-13) pounded one of the nation’s better pitching staffs for 42 runs on 41 hits including 11 homers, nine doubles and a triple. Saturday’s series finale saw the Tigers score 11 runs in the eighth inning for a 21-10 win after trailing 6-0.
The trio of wins not only put LSU back in the conversation to host an NCAA regional, but it obviously gave it a load of momentum entering the league tournament which it has won 12 times.
Yet there’s the question whether the unexpected extra time off because continuous weather delays have put the SEC tourney way behind schedule is beneficial for the 21st ranked Tigers to heal injuries or a momentum-killing detriment.
All first-year LSU head coach Jay Johnson is worried about is his team taking the same mental approach it has used all season, though the Tigers have had some rollercoaster week-to-week SEC series such as getting swept at home by Ole Miss for the first-time ever followed by a stunning road sweep of Vandy.
“We try to play with urgency every game that we play,” Johnson said. “That way when you get to the postseason, it feels as normal as possible. We talked about treating every game like it was the Super Bowl.
“I've kind of rephrased that to the season is a 56-game playoff. Therefore, when you get to the postseason or a playoff, you don't have to change anything in your approach.
“For the most part, we've done a good job of that. It's impossible in the SEC to win every game that you play. But I feel confident that we will play focused and will play loose (vs. Kentucky).”
LSU sophomore center fielder Dylan Crews, who was named co-SEC Player of the Year earlier this week, said he and his teammates have been mentally tough all season.
“It's obvious that we've had a lot of setbacks this year, a lot of injuries,” said Crews, who’s hitting .345 and leads the SEC with 21 home runs and 61 runs scored and is second in RBI with 67. “It just comes to who's going to be the toughest at the end of the day for us.
“We had a pretty tough weekend at home with Ole Miss. But again, we knew it was at stake. We knew what we needed to do to obviously host a regional, so we were able to pull it out against Vanderbilt.
"We still got a job to do over here in the SEC tournament. We just need to win. We need to take every day like it's our last day.”
LSU’s offense and relief pitching has carried Johnson’s team to the cusp of a 40-win season.
The Tigers rank second offensively in the SEC in eight stat categories – batting average (.293), slugging percentage (.530), on-base percentage (.409), total bases (999), runs scored (456), RBI (433), home runs (106) and hits (552).
LSU’s pitching, which ranks fourth in the SEC in earned run average (3.99) has been largely powered by starter Ma’Khail Hilliard (6-1, 4.13 ERA) and relievers Paul Gervase (2.45 ERA, 3-1, 5 saves in 25 appearances), Riley Cooper (3.09 ERA, 4-2, 1 save in 27 appearances) and Eric Reyzelman (3.16 ERA, 1-2, 3 saves in 26 appearances).
But what has given the Tigers optimism with the NCAA regionals just more than a week away is the late-season emergence of lefty reliever Jacob Hasty (2.25 ERA, 2-0) and right-hander Ty Floyd (3.12 ERA, 5-3) who beat Vanderbilt last Friday in his second SEC start when he gave up just one run and four hits in 5.1 innings.
Hillard and Reyzelman pitched in last Thursday’s game one and Floyd and Hasty in last Friday’s game two.
“Those four guys have had an enormous amount of rest,” Johnson said, “so I think we’re well positioned.”
Kentucky (32-24 overall, 12-18 in SEC) earned the 12th and final seed in the league tourney. The Wildcats upset fifth-seeded Auburn 3-1 in the single-elimination first round game, powered by back-to-back ninth-inning solo homers by Oraj Anu and Adam Fogel.
“This is a guy, this is his last year of college baseball, so this is it for him," UK coach Nick Mingione said of Anu. "He and a bunch of our other guys, they just want to keep playing. I heard in the dugout multiple times, we're not done yet, we want to keep playing.”
LSU didn’t play the Wildcats this season but won two of three games at Kentucky in 2021.
The LSU-Kentucky winner will play the winner between No. 1 ranked Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The Tigers-Wildcats loser will play the Vols-Commodores loser.
