Following the most recent LSU baseball semifinal victory over South Carolina in the 2024 SEC Tournament, it turns out that coach Jay Johnson might have ultimately been right about just how good his team truly can be by the time things are all said and done.
LSU baseball pulls off miracle victory over South Carolina to reach the 2024 SEC Tournament Championship
Just two days ago, LSU baseball managed to come away with a thrilling 11-10 victory over South Carolina in what would end up being the semifinal appearance sealing win for the purple and gold.
From a four-point deficit comeback to former South Carolina shortstop Michael Braswell III hitting the game winning RBI single for the Tigers, the game had just about everything a college baseball fan could possibly hope for.
Surely, the following semifinal matchup wouldn’t compare from an overall entertainment standpoint…right?
“We were down 8-0. Does anybody remember that? We were losing the game 8-0,” coach Jay Johnson reflected immediately following their 2024 SEC Tournament semifinal victory over the Gamecocks on Saturday afternoon.
Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, South Carolina had gone on an eight-point scoring streak, and it looked as though the LSU baseball miracle run in the 2024 SEC Tournament might have been close to its conclusion.
As it would turn out, that would be exactly incorrect, as just a half inning later, the Tigers quickly shut down any and all of those thoughts, scoring six straight points to make it a two-run deficit heading into the fifth.
From there, competitiveness only increased to an all-time high, as the two teams would combine for nine more points over the course of the next six innings, going back and forth the whole way through.
Ultimately, a few more innings of high-level college baseball, a head coach ejection and plenty of controversy later, the Tigers would eventually go on to defeat the Gamecocks in dramatic fashion once again, thanks to a walk off home run from freshman phenom Steven Milam in the bottom of the 10th inning.
With today’s victory, not only did LSU achieve their 17th conference win of the 2024 season, but they also earned their 40th total, showing that coach Jay Johnson has quickly turned his team into one of the best in the country – which, interestingly enough, he’s been telling people for over a week now.
Coach Jay Johnson was right about his team all along
Even before the start of the 2024 SEC Tournament, coach Jay Johnson has been adamant in his opinion that the Tiger baseball roster is one of the best 64 teams in the country. At the time, it didn’t feel like too much of a hot take, but even so, his squad was still being projected to just barely miss the NCAA Tournament, even despite a series sweep over Ole Miss just last week.
Still, their bracket hopes weren’t exactly over yet, as their upcoming conference tournament was set to host several of the best teams in the country, including No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 11 Georgia.
“The good thing about playing in this league is it still provides you opportunities,” Jay Johnson said. “I’m elated that we’ve played as well as we have here and have won four games and are playing for the championship tomorrow, but we were a postseason team coming here. Now I think everybody can probably understand what I’m talking about.”
Interestingly enough, their conference not only played a role in why they still had a chance at making the NCAA tournament, but it also played a major factor in why they were able to come in and continue to fight against some of the very best college baseball has to offer, no matter how far they might have fallen behind.
“They got cut, they got bloodied, they got punched in the gut, and they found a way to get back up and so they know they can overcome anything … They learned they could take the bullet. We actually played good at Tennessee. We played good at Tennessee and we got swept. I’ve never said that in my entire coaching career. We had the lead at Arkansas. We were down to the last strike to win the series against Florida and lost. So if you can overcome all of that and be where we were going into this game today, being down in a baseball game – that’s not going to phase them. I’m super proud of them for that.”
Now, after winning seven straight SEC games, including four in their conference tournament, LSU baseball now finds itself in the 2024 SEC Tournament Championship, paired up against No. 1 Tennessee (46-10).
The game is set to take place at 2:00 p.m. CST and will be available to watch live on SEC Network. While the Tigers notably sit 10 seeds below the Volunteers in the current bracket, it’s hard to deny that the purple and gold might be one of the hottest teams in the country, making them an immediate threat to just about anyone that may get in their way.
“I’m proud of them,” coach Jay Johnson continued about his team. “We’ve come this far – we might as well give it another great effort tomorrow.”
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