What He Said: Jay Johnson, Steven Milam React To LSU's Walk-Off Win Over Wofford

The Tigers remain hot in postseason play, open the NCAA Tournament with an impressive victory over Wofford.

May 25, 2024; Hoover, AL, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Jay Johnson talks about the game after a 12-11 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks during the SEC Baseball Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

LSU second baseman Steven Milam blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk-off Wofford, 4-3, on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the 2024 NCAA Regional inside Boshamer Stadium.

With the win, LSU improved to 41-21 on the season and 1-0 in the regional, while the Terriers fell to 41-19 and 0-1 in the regional.

The Tigers return Saturday at 4 p.m. CT to take on the winner of North Carolina versus Long Island University in their second game of the regional. The contest can be streamed on ESPN+, and it can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.

Following the thrilling victory on Friday, head coach Jay Johnson, second baseman Steven Milam and pitcher Gage Jump addressed the media.

Here's what they had to say:

LSU Head Coach Jay Johnson's Opening Statement:

“What a game. I'm really proud of our team. Wofford is a great team. We knew that coming in. You could easily see where the .340 batting average came from, the stolen bases, the execution and the pitching. They did alot of things right today. You know, fortunately for us, we have great players. Gage was outstanding today. Good pitchers find a way to win no matter what. And there's nobody better than him. And Steven, another clutch performance. I know the two home runs really stand out, but he took four great at-bats today. Excited about it. It's a great win for our program. Great win for the weekend. In postseason baseball you have to master the art of moving on. So that's what we'll do now.”

On the quality of late at-bats...

“First off, I want to give credit to [Wofford pitcher Braxton] Little. He pitched exceptionally well. There wasn't a lot of mistakes made. You know, over the middle of the plate or up in the zone. So I think that was the story for the beginning ofthe game. I think, you know, a lot of guys and I mentioned this are going through a lot of firsts this year, whether they're returning players from the national championship team or they're new here and its their first NCAA Tournament game and, you know, they want to do well, but we had to kind of get through some of that at the beginning of the game. He set a great tone in the first inning then we didn't help him. Went out quickly in the bottom of the first inning, and that's part of the complementary baseball we have to play better. Relative to the toughness piece of it. It's just who we are now. We got cut, we got blistered, we got bloodied, we got punched in the gut. It felt like 50 times in the first five weeks of the SEC play. But we got out of the hospital and this is who we are now.”

LSU Second Baseman Steven Milam

On his walk-off home run...

“I was just trying to get on base. You know, pass the sticks again to Mac [Bingham] and have somebody else win the game. I wasn't trying to win it in one swing. That's when you do too much. He threw probably, I think, eight fastballs, so Igot my timing down and got a pitch I could drive and it ended up leaving.”

LSU Starting Pitcher Gage Jump

On his fight on the mound...

“Yeah, once I gave up the two, I was just trying to put zeros back on the board and I was frustrated at the end with the one I gave up just because we just needed one more, but then they picked me up, so, you know, I just trusted them. But for me, it was just trying to put up more zeros.”

Other LSU News:

NCAA Tournament Bound: LSU Baseball's Regional Site Revealed on Monday

The Betting Odds: What are LSU's Chances of Winning the College World Series?

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