LSU Baseball Looks to "Master Ability to Move Forward" After Disappointing Midweek Loss

LSU is coming off a rough road test to kick off the Jay Johnson era but the even keeled head coach for the purple and gold isn't overreacting to one poor performance.

While there is plenty to work on defensively, Johnson wasn't completely pessimistic about the performance Wednesday night in Ruston. Every game LSU plays early in the season is a chance to collect data and learn some of the strengths but also the weaknesses this team will need to improve as 2022 marches on.

"You kind of have to master the ability to move forward to the next game," Johnson said. "It doesn't mean you don't look at the things you need to get better at and that's what we'll do. Games like that happen but the positives to take from it is we got off to as bad a start as we could and you look up in the fifth inning and it's 5-4."

"I want to give some credit to our guys for getting it back to that spot. I think if we can do that competitively, that's a good sign going forward."

Moving on quickly will be necessary for this LSU team as the Tigers are in a bit of a unique position with its schedule. Over the next three days, the purple and gold play Towson and Southern twice, with a double header scheduled for Sunday. Southern of course is right down the road and coming off an NCAA tournament appearance while Towson is coming off losing four straight to begin its season at Miami.

Sophomore Blake Money will draw his second consecutive Friday start following a tremendous opening weekend series against Maine. Considering the unique four game slate the Tigers are playing, Johnson didn't want to get into any further detail of who will start the remainder of the games but did say all of the pitchers will be available this weekend.

LSU is certainly coming off a forgettable defensive performance, one that Johnson has rarely seen in all of his years in the sport. The Tigers committed five errors against Louisiana Tech with many more certainly deserving of errors as well. Getting to play a four game series and regroup is something Johnson said the players are eager to do after such a disappointing performance in their first true road test.

"I think it's good. I think it helps our position players get into a little bit of a flow," Johnson said. "I'm looking forward to it and our guys would rather compete, our fans were great last weekend and hopefully that continues.

"I think we just need to keep moving forward and I know our guys are eager to do that. They were disappointed with how they played last night."

One of the areas LSU has an embarrassment of riches is in the outfield and with it comes tough decisions. The Tigers have seen tremendous offensive production from Dylan Crews, Jacob Berry, Gavin Dugas and Giovanni DiGiacomo in those spots, leading to quite the rotation through four games.

With Brayden Jobert also taking full advantage of the designated hitter spot early in the season, it's impossible to yank him from the lineup and try different combinations. For now Johnson still envisions a rotation in the outfield, something he thinks will benefit this team long term.

"We're working through some position changes with guys and working to find the right combination with left-right handed balance," Johnson said. "I like having left handed hitters. I think it's about finding that right mixture of at bats for everybody and I wanna play guys. We're fortunate in that regard to have the riches that we do and you're gonna see more than just three guys contribute."

The Tigers first pitch against Towson will get started at 6:30 p.m. with Money on the mound and a chance to get back on the right footing.

(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)