*The quotes in this story were taken from Jay Johnson’s Thursday conversation with Jacob Hester on Off the Bench
By Hunt Palmer
The SEC Tournament can be a grind.
Last year LSU played Tuesday through Sunday with just one day off. Previous Tiger teams have played beyond 1:00a and as early as 9:00 am. This season the single-elimination format allowed four teams—Texas, Arkansas, LSU and Vanderbilt—a double bye, giving the Tigers five days between games.
“Not playing until Friday, what it allowed us to do was come home after the South Carolina series instead of going straight to Hoover,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson of Off the Bench. “That was great. Players got to sleep in their own beds. We got a couple of good lifting sessions in, a good practice on Tuesday, and we hit the cages (Wednesday)…now it’s time to go.”
The Tigers take on the winner of Auburn and Texas A&M Friday night. While a Friday-Saturday-Sunday path to a championship would play like a traditional SEC weekend, don’t expect LSU to play things exactly as they have for 10 weeks.
Johnson insisted LSU was going to try to win the games, but there will be a cautious approach.
“(The SEC Tournament) is important, and LSU’s had a really good history in Hoover, and obviously we want to respect that,” Johnson said. “The NCAA Tournament is what our program is about.”
Johnson referenced the Friday start influencing his potential decision making because LSU’s first NCAA Tournament game is just seven days away.
“I’ve likened it to a couple of years ago taking Paul Skenes out with the bases loaded (in Hoover),” Johnson said. “I would never do that, but he was at 31 pitches in the inning, and we were going to need him fresh for the next Friday. Obviously, you don’t want to deal with any kind of injury thing. We didn’t play Tommy White (in Hoover). I took Nate Ackenhausen out in the championship game last year because we had five pitchers we were really leaning on last year. He was one of them. Sometimes you have to do those kinds of things.”
Again, that doesn’t mean LSU is just going to lay down and head back to Baton Rouge. There is a way to play to win without jeopardizing next weekend.
“I want to play three games,” Johnson said. “There’s guys I want to get on the mound. I think from a position player standpoint, seeing at bats, staying in a normal routine is good. We do some things in practice that I think are advantageous for that. But still, playing games is the best scenario, so we’re going to try to play three (in Hoover). That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
It’s clear beyond everything else, Johnson is focused on his two top arms.
“How do you get to Omaha with this team?” Johnson said. “You get to Omaha with Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson. That’s a huge part of that formula…There’s a healthy balance between keeping them in rhythm, keeping them fresh and sharp going into the regionals next weekend.”
