LSU, Johnson back exactly where expected to be in CWS

Roughly two years ago, I wrote about LSU’s hiring of Jay Johnson from Arizona to coach its baseball program after Paul Mainieri’s retirement.
At the time, I praised what I considered to be an outside-the-box hire as one that would bring LSU back into the 21st century in an evolving baseball landscape and ultimately, back to Omaha.
In his second season, Johnson has done both of those things and in the process has built what may be the most talented LSU baseball roster in program history.
That’s not hyperbole, either. LSU has two of the three Golden Spikes finalists in outfielder Dylan Crews and pitcher Paul Skenes.
LSU hasn’t had a Golden Spikes winner since Ben McDonald won the award in 1989 nor a finalist since Alex Bregman in 2016.
LSU will likely field a winner of the award this season, and the train of talent figures to continue rolling with Tommy White being named as a contender for the award as well this season.
To top it off, there’s a strong chance that those finalists will be the top-two picks in the Major League Baseball Draft on July 9.
Two Golden Spikes finalists from the same team? It’s been done. The top-two picks in the MLB Draft? Unprecedented.
That amount of talent leads to an almost crushing level of expectation as LSU embarks on a quest to secure its seventh national championship in program history.
It sets up what will likely be a “win it or else” situation for Johnson and the Tigers.
At the time this column is being written, the Tigers are preparing for its 19th trip to the Men’s College World Series and will play conference rival Tennessee Saturday night at 6 p.m.
It’s a tricky opening draw in what could be argued as the tougher side of the bracket in Omaha.
It’s also a series and opponent that LSU has dominated all-time, going 61-29 against the Volunteers.
Yet has struggled to navigate success against Tennessee in recent history.
The Vols have taken seven of the last 10 games from LSU dating back to 2018, with two of those three losses to the Tigers coming this season in their late March three-game series.
What does all this info tell us? That LSU may be better-equipped to handle Tennessee this season. There’s little, if any, doubt that Skenes will be taking the ball Saturday night.
However, the thing about Omaha is this …
It rarely rewards the most talented team in the field with the national championship.
More often than not, and it still holds true in this battering ram era of baseball, is that pitching translates.
It’s especially true in Charles Schwab Field, as it tends to play more pitcher-friendly than its predecessor in Rosenblatt Stadium.
If pitching is the secret sauce, then a team like Wake Forest is going to pose major issues.
While the Demon Deacons don’t possess a Skenes-level arm, they have what is arguably the best one-two pitching combo in the field in starters Rhett Lowder and Josh Hartle. The two have combined to go 26-1 this season with 262 combined strikeouts.
Wake can swing it in a big way as well, with five players who have hit 10 or more dingers this season. Its leader, third baseman Brock Wilken, has hit 30 homers this year.
This all sets up to prove one thing …
LSU, while talented, has no grounds to rest on the laurels of a talented roster starting Saturday night.
The bar? Too high.
The teams? Too tough.
The coach? May have set his squad up with a target too big after his in-game comments about the transfer portal.
But the task? Completely doable if LSU maintains the work out of the bullpen it has gotten throughout the postseason.
If nothing else, the tournament will be entertaining.
But at its best, Johnson will accomplish exactly what he was brought in to do and that’s an exciting thought for Tiger fans.