How the Baton Rouge Regional showcased departing LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson's value
BATON ROUGE – LSU baseball advanced to a Super Regional for the second time in three seasons on Monday.
But only a matter of minutes into the Tigers' celebration after defeating No. 2 seed Oregon State 13-7 in the Baton Rouge Regional final, more news came down the pipe.
Pitching coach Wes Johnson has accepted a job to become the next coach at Georgia. ESPN reported the news first and coach Jay Johnson confirmed it to the media shortly thereafter on Monday.
Jay Johnson also confirmed that Wes Johnson will stay with the team throughout the rest of LSU's postseason run and that a deal between Wes and Georgia had "been done for like five days." Jay had planned to tell the team the news in a meeting on Tuesday. But with the news breaking on Monday, he told his players shortly after Monday's game.
"I love him like a brother," Jay Johnson said. "I can't imagine only spending 11 months with somebody and connecting the way we have."
Wes Johnson's departure is bad news for LSU in the long term. But him staying with the Tigers for the remainder of their postseason run, which continues this week against Kentucky in the Baton Rouge Super Regional, is crucial news for the short term.
That's because, quietly, LSU's pitching staff has been a lot better recently.
In its three games at the Baton Rouge Regional, the Tigers surrendered just 14 earned runs. Paul Skenes struck out 12 batters in his first complete game of the season on Friday before LSU combined to strike out 19 Beavers on Sunday and 10 more on Monday.
It wasn't a perfect weekend for LSU's staff. They still gave up seven home runs across those three games and the bullpen allowed three runs in the ninth inning on Monday to dampen an otherwise exceptional performance.
But LSU's staff doesn't need to be perfect in order for the Tigers to win. That was evident after the offense blasted five home runs on Sunday and scored 13 runs in a game where it hit another four home runs on Monday.
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"I think the preparation and the execution with the pitching staff this weekend speaks for itself," Jay Johnson said.
This weekend wasn't a one-off either. In three games at the SEC Tournament last weekend, LSU held South Carolina to three runs, Arkansas to five and Texas A&M to five.
That competition wasn't easy. South Carolina was a regional host this weekend and advanced to the Super Regional, Arkansas was a regional host and top-8 seed and Texas A&M is a win away from advancing to the Super Regionals.
LSU came into this season with a lot of talent, even outside of Paul Skenes. But after losing Grant Taylor, Jaden Noot, Chase Shores and Garrett Edwards for the rest of the season, there were plenty of questions surrounding the depth of the Tigers' staff.
This weekend, in part thanks to Wes Johnson's contributions throughout this year, LSU has started to quell those concerns.
"You're going to get hit in the mouth a little bit," Jay Johnson said. "What I always have had confidence in is we've kind of always rallied back. I mean, lost a nine-run lead to Mississippi State and then went out and pitched three really good games in a row after that. Sometimes that gets lost.
"But this is also a development-based business."
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball: Wes Johnson helping in NCAA Regional before Georgia gig
