Jay Johnson previews LSU vs. Arkansas series, late-season push

LSU takes on Arkansas this weekend in The Box, looking to further cement its spot as one of the top eight teams in the country before the postseason comes. Coming off of a series loss to Texas A&M, the Tigers look to get back on track against another elite program.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson was on Off The Bench on 104.5 ESPN Radio and discussed the upcoming series, his team’s preparation, and more. Here’s everything he said.

What is the feeling within the LSU program right now?

Jay Johnson: “It’s been good. I’m happy to see the sun this morning and looking forward to getting on the field. We’re in the middle of finals, so they’re wrapping that up. We gave the team a little extra time off with Tuesday night’s game getting rained out. Had a really productive day yesterday and we’re excited for today’s prep. The coaching staff has been knee-deep into Arkansas, and the team is ready. Our home crowd has been great all year, especially with the rain and odd start times, and we’re going to need all of it this weekend. Looking forward to a great one.”

Key to Anthony Eyanson’s success and improvement at LSU…

“First off, he’s just a phenomenal person and competitor. I give him a lot of credit—he’s improving as the season goes on, and even within games. We saw really efficient innings mid-game, which allowed him to go deep. Around the Texas series, we made a few adjustments, and coach Yeskie deserves a lot of credit there. Anthony has gone out and executed. He’s one of those guys that only people inside the program fully appreciate. When you’re recruiting in this era with the portal, you know he’s the guy you have to get—someone who can tip the season. He chose LSU and has delivered. I’m really proud of him.”

How do you approach a series compared to an individual game?

“I put a lot of thought into that—meeting the team where they are and what lies ahead. Sometimes it’s one theme for the weekend; other times it’s different each day. With a 56-game schedule, it’s more challenging than a 12-game football season, but I do my best. We’ve had fun with it this year, and usually the guys respond well. Really what it comes down to execution. We’re facing a good team, and they’ll make it hard on us to execute. Our guys need to stay in the right frame of mind and compete. I admire their consistency in preparation and how they’ve competed, and that’s why I believe we have great baseball ahead of us and this weekend is one of those [opportunities].”

Moving on from the A&M series loss…

“I’m not worried about the players moving on, it happened four days ago. When you’re 19 to 21, you move on pretty quickly. Sometimes it sticks with me a bit longer. To put it in context, out of 30 league games, 18 have been against teams ranked 12 or better in the RPI at the time we played them. We’re playing our third or fourth No. 1-ranked team this year in our league schedule. So, you can’t get caught up in the past or look too far ahead. I know it’s super boring, but staying present is the only way to do it. We had a great practice yesterday—just two or three guys at a time, recommitting to approach, getting swings back on track. If we can survive this stretch, we’ll head into the postseason having seen everything. You’re basically just relining the teams you played already to reach Omaha and chase a national championship.”

Thoughts on Arkansas…

“They’re probably the most complete team we’ve faced in terms of offense, defense, pitching. They always pitch well and defend well, and that’s true again this year. Like we had with Anthony, they had their guy from the portal, Zach Root, who solidified their rotation and pushed some good arms to the bullpen. They hammer mistakes, whether its fastballs, hanging breaking balls, doesn’t matter. I reviewed mostly their series against Texas. They’ve had their weekends like us, but they’re playing well now. They’re probably the favorite to wing ht national championship right now. I love that we’re at home. I’m really excited for this weekend. This is what college baseball is all about. Maybe because they haven’t won a national championship,people might not talk about them as much, but they’ve been the most consistent program in the SEC over the past ten years. This is awesome and we’re excited about this weekend.”

On getting guys on track late in the season…

“Sometimes it’s a little misleading, just because the competition is so stiff week in and week out. I just don’t think you can survive this without a few bumps. Texas was No. 1, had lost one game in a month, and was annihilated by Arkansas last weekend. In our league, that’s going to happen. My job is keeping our players in the right headspace. If I can do that, they’ll have the chance to perform in high-leverage situations. That’s why we’ve had postseason success. But it all comes down to execution, and you can’t execute unless you’re in the right frame of mind. We work on that 365 days a year. And how I look at it, that’s the same for every team in the SEC right now. Unless you’re doing this, playing three teams that have all been No. 1, you don’t really get it. So, you have to stay right in the head. After that A&M game, I told the team I was proud. We busted our ass in that game. We didn’t hit well, but the pitchers did a great job and coaching staff did a great job, and we almost won a tough series on the road against a team that’s really talented and we didn’t even . That would’ve been huge. So I said, “Let’s pack up, focus on finals, and get ready for the Hogs.” It’s all about what’s in front of us.