Despite a frustrating close to the regular season, LSU remains poised to make a potential deep run in the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed.
When the Tigers open up the Baton Rouge Regional on Friday afternoon against Tulane, there will be one player fans will hope to see return to the lineup: first baseman [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag].
The NC State transfer and national RBI leader missed LSU’s elimination game loss against Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament, though coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said he was “banged up” and it was mostly for rest purposes.
Based on Johnson’s comments in an interview with the SEC Network, it seems White is expected to play against the Green Wave.
“I anticipate (White) being able to play on Friday,” Johnson said. “He was a little banged up, but he needed that rest and we gave it to him. It was hard to do… I think it was the right thing for Tommy and ultimately the right thing to do for our team.”
Johnson said that the rest of the team is looking good from a health perspective and that the week the Tigers had off could prove beneficial as the team enters regional play.
“For the rest of the position players, I think we’re in a good spot,” Johnson said. “I think a couple days off was not the worst thing in the world. You look at [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag], he’s played in every game since I’ve been the coach here. You look at [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], he’s played in every game since I’ve been the coach here.
“Those guys play two of the most demanding positions on the field. So, for them to get a rest and to get their legs underneath them, for them to get mental rest the last few days, I think was positive. We feel like we have a good plan in preparing for the week and doing the things we need to do to get ready. I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot.”
After dropping two of the final three regular-season series and exiting the SEC tournament shy of the semifinal round with a 2-2 record, LSU will hope it can get hot at the right time and make a run to Omaha for the first time since 2017.
The Tigers open up the Baton Rouge Regional against Tulane at Alex Box Stadium at 2 p.m. CT Friday.
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