What He Said: Jay Johnson Breaks Down LSU Baseball's Game 1 Win Over West Virginia

The top-ranked LSU Tigers are one win away from the College World Series after taking down the West Virginia Mountaineers 16-9 on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.

Jay Johnson and Co. opened the Baton Rouge Super Regional with a win behind a dominant performance at the plate from the Tigers.

Headlined by homers from Steven Milam and Josh Pearson, LSU's bats set the stage for a the Tigers inching closer towards an appearance in Omaha.

Johnson took the podium following Saturday's game to break down Game 1 of Baton Rouge Super Regional.

What did the Tigers' shot-caller have to say?

Jay Johnson's Take: LSU One Win From Omaha

Opening Statement:

JAY JOHNSON: Great win for our team today against a really good team, really good pitcher. Tough conditions. It was very hot today. But our guys came ready to play, just as they did on Monday night. And it was a good performance. Proud of Kade for gutting through that. That was not easy. I think everybody that was watching the game can attest watching the game wasn't easy.

So towing the rubber like he did and giving everything he had to every pitch was awesome. Great performance by Derek. Great performance by Josh. Really good job by our entire lineup throughout the game today. And get ready for tomorrow.

Q. What a talent-filled roster. How does one go about managing and finding who is hot and who's not and trusting in the guy when you least expect it?

JAY JOHNSON: I think just taking it one day at a time. Focus on the game in front of you. I think our method to how we treat the season helps us in postseason play, as we treat the season like a 56-game season playoff.

And everybody understands what their job is on a particular day. We try to communicate that well.

As far as choosing, just put a lot of hay in the barn as far as preparing. I don't have a better explanation for it other than try to get it right and don't just throw things up on a board. But a lot of time and effort and looking at things. And when you have good players, it certainly helps.

Q. From June to February, what did you see in Kade that took him from whatever his role was last year to what he is now?

JAY JOHNSON: I think there's a few things that come to mind. When we lost last year in Chapel Hill, it was a very difficult loss for all of us. The first thing I noticed, he took that really hard. Like, he pitched in the game before that we won. Didn't pitch in that game. Wasn't able to. And he took that hard.

And that was the first, like, kind of like that. I knew he was a great kid and all that, but I kind of liked that. And then he really went to work physically on his body. He's much stronger. He's very lean. He's athletic.

I said this, if I let him hit, he would probably be an everyday player for us at first base or in the outfield because he's such a good athlete. But he really worked hard in the weight room, put on some good weight, good strength. Continued to be a good mover. So I think that was probably the second thing.

And then just how he went about developing his slider, obviously, his big-game changer. And then it's been a constant work in progress to figure out how to use everything. And when he throws all four of them for strikes we can literally do anything we want.

I think the special part, you just heard him, we won, he's happy we won. He's ticked off because he gave up some hits and runs. Those are usually your highest performers that have that competitive level.

He's got all of it. There's very few guys that have all of it. He's got all of it.

Q. How much do you think the two long innings affected Kade in the later stages of this game?

JAY JOHNSON: I mean, knowing what a team guy he is, he said it didn't. So I believe him. I don't think there's a pitcher on the planet in the super regional game wouldn't prefer 13 runs over two innings and a long rest.

We kept him moving. We've had long innings this year. When you have a good offense, it happens. But it was hot. I mean it was hot, and it was a good team.

I think the story is him persevering through that. If it was a regular-season game, maybe we would have taken him out a little bit earlier, but there's nobody else I want out there on the mound.

He gave up some rounds there in the sixth and the seventh, but just getting those two innings checked off without having to use somebody else becomes very valuable -- not just in the game today, but in tomorrow and the rest of the series.

Q. Josh Pearson always seems to deliver when you call his number. How is he able to do that day in and day out when you ask him?

JAY JOHNSON: He's a good player. He's a good hitter. Character, makeup, toughness, raised right, best parents in the world. It will be odd not having him here because it's my only guy. The four years together, like that's it.

And he's really dialed into the right things, much like Kade, much like Derek. The three guys that -- every time I come up here, I find them talking about who they are as people as much as players. He's at the forefront of that.

It's his last go-around here at LSU. He's had a good season. I'm pretty sure he's hitting over .300 or right at .300, has a bunch of homers, and kind of in and out of the lineup.

He's always ready when we call his name. Had a good series at South Carolina, started two of those games. He's the best. He's just the best.

Q. You mentioned just what Kade did saving those last couple of innings, but how about the three guys you rolled out there and how it's set you up for what's still to come?

JAY JOHNSON: I thought it was good. I thought DJ, very efficient right there. They obviously have a number of left-handed hitters in the lineup. We may need to utilize him again. Doing it in two pitches -- I thought it was good to get him back out on the mound, again, after the last appearance.

And then I thought William did some good things. And I want to get him in these games because he's going to be starting one of them probably at some point next year. I thought that was good experience.

Kyle West is a heck of a hitter. He's a heck of a hitter. I wasn't worried about the homer. You want to go get the first guy when he got him to two strikes. I thought Mavrick was great. He's continually getting better, and that's great for us.

Q. You changed the lineup a lot the last two games. The guys have responded really well to that. You've written a lot of lineup cards in your career. Is that something that's special, the way these guys are, whatever their role is, just to adjust and produce immediately?

JAY JOHNSON: I think it speaks to good players, meant strength, attitude, team over me, understanding their job and what's required of them and have been trained for it. And there's a lot that goes into it. There's a reason we don't skip a day of skill work.

We literally start the first day of school, when it's a billion degrees, like it was today, and develop a process of being a good offensive player.

And you have guys for a couple of years or four years like Josh, and they're always ready and prepared. And it's happened a couple other times. And Griffin Kirn is good, really good. Not many teams have done much with him this year.

We really had to be on it, both from how we aligned it and then the execution of the players. And it was a good day for the offense today.

Q. You guys had eight hits, 16 runs. Obviously a couple of big hits in there. What did you see from your guys in those big at-bats in their approach?

JAY JOHNSON: I thought maybe the first inning it was a little fast. But, again, good pitcher -- 100 strikeouts, low ERA, less hits than innings pitched, deceptive, has a unique style in how he does it.

And then I thought the second inning the bats got a little bit better. I think we only swung, like, four times in the second inning, and the pitch count was up to like 28. So I thought that was good.

Then they just progressively got a little bit better. Even though we didn't have any hits, we were pressuring him with pitch count and long counts and three balls and 3-2, all those things. I don't know how you guys felt holding a camera when it was a billion degrees out there. But I'm sure standing on the middle of the pitcher's mound wasn't all that comfortable.

Maybe he ran out of gas a little bit so he lost his command. But good for us. Sometimes when you face a good guy you gotta hope he's off a little bit. Tough environment, like I said.

That's why it's amazing what Kade did today, to stay out there for seven innings and 100-plus pitches and execute well and give our team a chance to win.

Q. Last weekend you had that first chance to close the door, get to Supers, you had to play the if-necessary. From a mindset and approach perspective, what do you hope's different about the team when they get to the ball field tomorrow so you guys can get this in a sweep instead of having to play the third game?

JAY JOHNSON: Well, they want to win it. They want to do it, and doesn't mean they didn't want to win it or do it last week either. I think we'll be in a good position to get some rest tonight, use the football facility to get recovered, re-set, get body temperatures down, hydrate, get a good night's rest. Coaching staff go to work.

There's some things that I feel like I learned in the game today that we need to make some movement on to be better prepared for tomorrow. So use that time well. But this isn't about, like, motivation at this point in time. This is purely about mindset and execution.

Q. Was Kade hurt at all when he got hit in the arm? Was there any swelling, or was he in any pain right off?

JAY JOHNSON: He was okay. He just wanted to throw a couple. It stung him pretty square on the forearm. And that's why I stayed out there and stood behind the mound to see how the ball was coming out. Quickly turned and looked at the gun and it looked normal for a warm-up pitch. He's okay. That was in the second inning, I believe. So to go six after that, he's good.

Q. You made some changes because of the left-handers. Have you made a dramatic change like that before putting Curiel all the way down to 7? Just some of the background on the batting order changes.

JAY JOHNSON: He's not hit seventh this year, that's for sure. Just in a game like this against a pitcher like that, he's very different than what we have seen, even relative to left-handers and SEC left-handers.

And I just think the guys did a really good job of what they needed to do. I don't even really think it had a lot to do with shuffling the deck and the order, but he had an excellent performance today. You really have to stay in there on him the way he steps and where he delivers the ball. It's almost completely out of the batter's eye. So he can be really, really tough on lefties.

But he executed it perfectly. He kept his feet in there and got hit by a pitch on the first one and stayed on that slider and hit a bullet out of here. That's impressive to be able to do that. So he did what he needed to do.

Like I said, I think it's more about the players executing than anything else.

Q. Going back to the 16 runs on eight hits, you guys also drew eight walks and had five hit batters. Can you talk about your offense making the most of whatever opportunities present themselves?

JAY JOHNSON: Yeah, I thought it was a complete performance. Again, the hits didn't come in the first few innings, but we made the pitcher work, and that was really important today, especially when we have a really good pitcher going.

And he had some really good innings there in the third, fourth and fifth, where their pitcher didn't get a chance to sit down; they had to go right back out there.

So I think those free bases helped. And then we set the table with two hit-by pitches. Both those were two strikes. That was really important. And Derek executed his plan very, very well. And then the next inning we really got going. And the free bases are part of that. It's like turnovers in football; you want to capitalize on them, and we certainly did today.

Q. Kirn wasn't afraid to throw the ball inside today. Three hit-by pitches. How much did you know that heading into this game? Was the lineup constructed to sort of take advantage of that tendency, I guess?

JAY JOHNSON: He's a good pitcher, throws to both sides of the plate, changes speed, has deception in his delivery. You're not going to be able to cover everything, so to speak.

But I thought our guys just did a good job of -- I thought we were a little, want to go get it, want to make something happen in the first inning, but after that I thought they just did a really good job of swinging at pitches they could hit hard, taking the ones they couldn't, battling when they got deep in the count, and we're fortunate enough to push his pitch count up.

But probably see him again. They brought him back on one day's rest last week. He was one of those guys that probably has a rubber arm, just great competitor, obviously. And so hopefully we learned something today.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/lsu as What He Said: Jay Johnson Breaks Down LSU Baseball's Game 1 Win Over West Virginia .