Jay Johnson believes LSU is playing ‘as good as anybody in the country’

The defending national champion LSU Tigers entered the SEC Tournament as the No. 11 seed after ending the regular season with a disappointing 12-17 record in conference play. But after heating up to close out the season, they carried that momentum in the postseason, defeating No. 6-seeded Georgia 9-1 in dominant fashion to open up the conference tournament.

The Tigers heating up at the right time is a scary sight for the SEC and college baseball at large, and after Tuesday’s win, LSU head coach Jay Johnson spoke about his team’s play as of late and their recent postseason performance.

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“Very proud of our team, we’re playing the best baseball we’ve played all year over the last 20 games. Playing as good as anybody in the country,” Johnson said. “With the stakes of today’s game, we controlled what we could control really well.”

After starting off SEC play slow, the Tigers finished the regular season with wins in three of their last four series. Boasting a 14-5 record overall down the stretch after suffering a series sweep to top-ranked Tennessee in mid-April.

The combination of strong offense and defense was on display for the Tigers in Birmingham against the Bulldogs, with left-handed pitcher Gage Jump allowing just one run and four hits during his seven innings pitched on Tuesday. Posting seven strikeouts in a game that he and the Tigers have had their eye on for quite some time.

“Gage was phenomenal on the mound, we put this in play about three weeks ago that he would pitch this game if we put ourselves in the position we did which was to be an NCAA Tournament team,” Johnson explained. “So he’s been working hard and ready to roll and was good today against one of the best offenses in college baseball probably as anybody they’ve seen all year.”

Georgia had one of the strongest offenses in the country this season, only trailing Tennessee in the conference in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage, and runs scored. But LSU’s hitters stole the show on Tuesday, racking up 14 hits and nine runs, led by left-fielder Josh Pearson’s two hits and three RBIs.

“Big day out of Josh and the lineup and another great zero in the error column. So proud of how we played, get back to the hotel, get to work on Kentucky, and great effort from the Tigers today,” Johnson concluded.

LSU will look to keep their momentum going in the double-elimination round, facing off against No. 3 Kentucky on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. ET.