Tigers hope to learn from 2024 following title season

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

By Hunt Palmer

Jay Johnson hasn’t made many missteps since arriving from Tucson.

His first team in Baton Rouge was a game away from hosting a Super Regional. His second and fourth won national titles.

The one very minor bump in the road was the 2024 season, specifically the start of SEC play when the Tigers made the turn at 3-12. Despite a furious late-season rally and some really good baseball in Chapel Hill, LSU lost a heartbreaker to the host Tar Heels to end the season.

Now Johnson’s program gets a second shot at following a championship season.

The Tiger head coach frequently observes and quotes other coaches from different sports. Last week he heard Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson discussing the momentum the franchise created with its best season since 2018.

“He talked about starting over,” Johnson said. “There is no building off that. And the NFL is different, obviously, than college sports, but I thought it was very insightful.”

In many ways, that’s accurate. None of the 53 wins accumulated last season count moving forward. However, a veteran core that helped rack them up returns.

LSU’s starting outfield of Derek Curiel, Jake Brown and Chris Stanfield is back. So is shortstop Steven Milam. Casan Evans and Zac Cowan were two of LSU’s most trusted bullpen arms a season ago. Mavrick Rizy, Jaden Noot and William Schmidt combined for 61 appearances.

New faces have been brought in to supplement the roster, but the nucleus of returners trumps what the 2024 team brought back from 2023. Only two of the nine that started Game 3 of the championship series returned to that team, and the starting rotation was gone.

This LSU locker room knows how to win.

“I want them to understand where they’re at and the high standard,” Johnson said. “That’s why one of the things for us this year is ‘hold the standard.’ That means something different here when we say hold the standard.

“Obviously, look around here. Everybody knows what that is from a results standpoint. But, hold the standard of high level of accountability, honoring the process, team over me, and being totally focused on right now. There’s not one game that’s going to have direct value from last year in this team’s success this year.”

There should be plenty of success. The Tigers have been ranked in the top two in every preseason poll. Some of that is due to returning players and transfers. Some of that is just trust in Johnson’s program.

The players are reminded daily of the expectations.

“LSU is the gold standard of college baseball,” Brown said. “It’s not just because of the winning history. It’s because of how everyone handles their business every day. That’s something that we were able to do last year really well. It’s something that we’re able to learn from this year and just keep pushing forward, keep holding that standard.”

Curiel faced very little adversity as a freshman. He entered the fold immediately and was among the best hitters in the lineup. He reached base in his first 43 games and led the Tigers in hitting en route to being named National Freshman of the Year by D1 Baseball.

His role on the field won’t change much. He moves from left field to center. He’ll still hit at or near the top of the lineup. But now he’ll be leaned on as a leader in what will likely be his final college season.

“The biggest thing I learned is it’s a long season,” Curiel said. “A weekend doesn’t dictate it. A week doesn’t dictate it. A month doesn’t dictate it. Last year, our motto was tough and together, and I think we showed that really well. This year our motto’s ‘All In’ and ‘LSU Over Me,’ but I think this team has that toughness, too. So, I think that’s the biggest thing I learned, just to stay on the narrow road and not get sidetracked with if we lose a couple games here and there.”