A Look Into the Tigers Offseason, Future of the Program

Jay Johnson's first season may not have had the outcome they hoped for, but there are a number of positives to take from the 2022 season

It wasn’t quite the storybook ending LSU fans had hoped for after Monday evening’s loss to Southern Miss, ending their first year under head coach Jay Johnson, but there are a number of positives to take away from the Tigers 2022 season.

This team showed grit all season with Johnson constantly harping on how much he enjoyed coaching this squad, firmly believing they would pull off yet another come from behind victory over Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Regional. But they came up just short, with the team showing pure emotion following the loss, even Coach Johnson.

“When I say painful, this is deep pain. I know it means you're living a pretty good life if losing a baseball game hurts that bad, but it really does,” Johnson said. “A lot of it is because of these guys. My feet hit the ground every single day with excitement to coach this team. I was not prepared to lose the game.”

Down to their final strike, the Tigers kept hope in the dugout, and with players like Dylan Crews and Gavin Dugas in your corner, it’s hard to not believe you can come from behind at any moment, but their luck ran out Monday. In both Hattiesburg Regional victories, crucial plays by both Crews and Dugas lifted them to victory, with the two of them visibly shaken up after their season came to an end.

"It's hard to put it into words right now. I'm proud of how we competed,” Dugas said. “You can't prepare for anything like this. This is the worst time of the year watching your season come to an end. I'm proud of what we did with this team with what we had.”

For the SEC Co-Player of the Year in Crews, his sophomore year is one that’ll go down in the history books. Giving this team life when the lights were brightest, he showed he’s destined for greatness sooner rather than later. After emptying the tank this season, his frustration after an abrupt ending was clear in Monday’s postgame press conference.

"It's obviously very tough right now. I'm kind of at a loss for words,” Crews said. “We gave it all we had. There was never a thought in my mind that we were going to lose that game.”

With the 2022 season in the rearview mirror, this coaching staff certainly has their work cut out for them this offseason. A number of power hitters in this lineup, returning Crews among a myriad of others, this group will have to improve the bullpen.

“I think it’s really simple, we’ve gotta pitch better,” Johnson said. “End of story. That’s the story of this tournament, the story of the SEC tournament and the last regular season game against Vanderbilt. There’s nothing about competitiveness, about heart, they don’t need more motivation.”

Plaguing the Tigers to close out the regular season, carrying into the SEC tournament, the pitching of LSU will certainly need to improve if this team wants a shot at Omaha next season. Johnson put his recruiting cap on for much of this year, signing the No. 1 class in the country, including 13 pitchers who will look to come in and make an immediate impact.

Despite a few outliers, this LSU squad showed what they were made of for much of the 2022 season. Showing fight in every game they suited up for with their confidence never wavering, the Tigers are in position to be a force in the SEC next season.

“We have good players and there’s some things to be proud of and I wanna win a national championship, make a bunch of runs at a title but there are some things to be proud of,” Johnson said. “We fought, we competed and I’m proud of that.”