Tag: wofford terriers

Jay Johnson breaks down LSU baseball’s ability to fight back in games

“That’s just who we are now,” Jay Johnson said after Friday’s comeback win over Wofford.

Just like it did several times in last week’s SEC Tournament, the LSU baseball team found itself playing from behind late in Friday’s Chapel Hill Regional opener against Wofford.

The Tigers trailed 2-0 late into the game but ultimately battled back with some timely home-run hitting, emphatically capped off with a walk-off solo shot from [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] to break a 3-3 gridlock in the bottom of the ninth as LSU won 4-3.

Now, as they prepare to face North Carolina in the winners’ bracket, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said his team is learning to roll with the punches during games.

“First off, I want to give credit to Little, he pitched exceptionally well (for Wofford). That was the story for the beginning of the game.” Johnson said, per On3. “A lot of guys are going through a lot of firsts and this is their first NCAA Tournament game and they want to do well, but we have to work through some of that. (Gage) set a good tone in the top of the first inning, then we didn’t help him in the bottom of the first inning and that’s part of the complimentary baseball — we have to play better.

“Relative to the toughness aspect, that’s just who we are now. We got cut. We got blistered. We got punched in the gut 50 times in the first five weeks of SEC play, but we got out of the hospital and this is who we are now.”

Johnson will hope his team can take more control early in games, especially as it draws a matchup against the No. 4 national seed. But LSU is learning how to battle back and stay in games, and that’s an important attribute if this team wants to return to Omaha.

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Best photos from LSU baseball’s walk-off win over Wofford in Chapel Hill Regional opener

Steven Milam played the hero for LSU once again on Friday, hitting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth.

For much of Friday’s NCAA Chapel Hill Regional opener against Wofford, it looked like LSU was setting up for a date in the losers’ bracket.

It trailed 2-0 late into the game, and even as clutch solo home runs from [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag], [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] all got the Tigers back into the game, it was still tied at three entering the bottom of the ninth.

That’s when Milam played the hero once again, crushing a walk-off solo homer as the Tigers won 4-3 and advanced to face top-seeded North Carolina in Saturday’s winners’ bracket.

As LSU looks to secure a spot in the regional final, here are the best photos from its dramatic win to open regional play.

LSU’s Steven Milam makes history with 2nd walk-off in a week

With his walk-off on Friday, Steven Milam did something that hadn’t been done since 1948.

Less than week after Steven Milam’s walk-off homer against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinals, he did it again. This time, the stage was even bigger, in the NCAA Tournament.

LSU trialed for most of the game but a series of late home runs lifted the Tigers over Wofford in game one of the Chapel Hill Regional. The final of which was Milam’s, keeping LSU out of the dreaded loser’s bracket.

It was a full count and once Milam turned on it, there wasn’t much doubt about it.

With the homer, Milam became the first LSU baseball player with two walk off hits in a week since third basemen Georgia Mire did it in 1948. He’s just a freshman, but the 5-foot-8 infielder from New Mexico is showing a knack for the big moment. If you need a big hit, there aren’t many hitters in the country you’d rather have than Milam right now.

Milam has eight homers on the year despite not hitting his first until April 19. His eight total bases against Wofford were a career-high, one better than the seven he totaled against South Carolina last Saturday.

Milam and LSU will now await the winner of North Carolina and Long Island in Game 2.

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‘Monster’ moment for Steven Milam as LSU walks it off to beat Wofford in Chapel Hill Regional opener

The late-inning antics continued for LSU as Steven Milam walked it off with a solo shot to win the game 4-3.

[autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] got the start on the mound as the Tigers looked to get the Chapel Hill Regional off to a hot start. The late-inning antics continued for LSU as [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] walked it off with a solo shot to win the game 4-3.

Wofford got to Jump early as the Terriers used their small-ball formula to score two runs in the top of the second inning to make it 2-0 Terriers. After that, Jump was locked in on the mound, but so was Wofford. LSU was unable to score any runs and the Tigers only managed two hits against the Terriers starting pitcher, Branton Little.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU finally got on the board as Milam hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 2-1.

Wofford answered that run with a solo shot of their own to extend their lead to 3-1 as we headed to the bottom of the eighth inning. That solo shot chased Jump from the mound. His day finished after 7.1 innings where he gave up three runs on six hits, nine strikeouts, and zero walks. [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] entered the game in relief.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers tied the game as a [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] homer and a [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] homer tied the game 3-3.

In the top of the ninth inning, [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] entered the game for LSU and he struck out the side to give LSU a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth. Monster Milam led off for the Tigers in the bottom of the ninth and he promptly hit a walk-off bomb on a 3-2 count to win the game for LSU!

LSU advances to take on the winner of North Carolina and Long Island in the winners’ bracket on Saturday.

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Watch Steven Milam’s walk-off home run as LSU baseball beats Wofford in NCAA regional opener

It has got to be the hair.

Steven Milam had already gone yard once as he stepped up to the plate in the ninth inning.

The first time around, Milam broke a 2-0 shutout with a solo shot in the seventh inning. The second time, Milam delivered some more heroics.

In a 3-3 game, Milam’s solo home run in the bottom of the ninth walked it off as the Tigers won 4-3 and will advance to the winners’ bracket to face either Chapel Hill Regional host North Carolina or Long Island on Saturday night.

Check out the video of Milam’s home run, which marked his second walk-off in as many weeks after he did so against South Carolina in the SEC Tournament.

Milam and the Tigers will be back in action in the winners’ bracket on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. CT.

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Home runs from Michael Braswell III, Jared Jones tie game in the 8th for LSU against Wofford

The Tigers’ offense woke up at the right time in Friday’s regional opener against Wofford.

[autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] broke the shutout for LSU with a home run in the seventh inning against Wofford in Friday’s Chapel Hill Regional opener, but after the Terriers answered with a solo shot of their own, it went to the bottom of the eighth trailing by two runs once again.

[autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] quickly erased that deficit, however. The pair each hit solo home runs as LSU tied the game at three runs apiece entering the ninth inning.

The Tigers struggled to get much offense going against Wofford early in the game, being held scoreless in the first six innings, but the offense woke up at the perfect time.

The Tigers look to punch their ticket to the winners’ bracket, where they’d likely face North Carolina on Saturday.

 

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Watch Steven Milam hit a monster solo shot to cut deficit against Wofford in regional opener

Monster Milam struck again to get the Tigers back in the game on Friday.

LSU baseball struggled to find much offense in the early goings of its NCAA Chapel Hill Regional opener against Wofford.

The Tigers managed just two hits and no runs through the first six innings of play as they trailed 2-0, but “Monster” [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] changed that leading off the bottom of the seventh.

Milam absolutely unloaded on a pitch, which he sent over the fence in left-center field for a solo home run that cut the Terriers’ lead to just one run.

The true freshman from Las Cruces, New Mexico, has had a huge first season with the Tigers and has been a major part of their late-season turnaround.

Milam, who hit a walk-off for LSU in the SEC Tournament, debuted a new Tiger-stripe hairstyle ahead of the regional. Perhaps that has been a difference-maker for him.

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On3 makes its prediction as LSU baseball heads to Chapel Hill Regional

Can the Tigers emerge from the tough field in Chapel Hill next weekend?

As recently as last month, reaching the postseason looked like a pipe dream for an LSU baseball team that started 0-5 in SEC series.

But after a hot stretch to close the season, the Tigers not only made the NCAA tournament with ease, but it even earned a No. 2 regional seed. Now, coach Jay Johnson’s team hits the road to play in the Chapel Hill Regional, hosted by North Carolina and also featuring Wofford and Long Island.

The Tar Heels were the regular season champions of the ACC and hold the No. 4 national seed, while Wofford is a dangerous mid-major opponent at the No. 3 seed.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner released his predictions for all 16 NCAA regionals, and though he has the Tigers reaching the regional final, he thinks their run will come to an end against UNC.

Wofford has some impressive offensive numbers, but they got a tough draw going up against a red hot LSU team in the opener in Chapel Hill. With the way LSU is playing right now, they are going to be a tough out for anyone. But, North Carolina is a top four seed for a reason. The Tar Heels have a deep pitching staff and a loaded lineup, and the depth to their bullpen gives them the edge over the Tigers. Still, it should be a very entertaining regional.

Prediction: North Carolina over LSU

No one is going to look past the defending national champions, even with the team taking a significant step back this spring. LSU is playing its best baseball at the right time, and it will have to hope that’s enough as it looks to beat one of the top teams in the nation in its own house next weekend.

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LSU baseball heads to the Chapel Hill Regional as a No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament

The Tigers are headed to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina, Wofford and Long Island.

LSU has learned where it is headed for the regionals. The Tigers are headed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to battle North Carolina, Wofford and Long Island.

Here is a fun fact from Todd Politz: LSU has never faced Wofford or Long Island in school history. LSU was named the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Region and will open against the third-seeded Wofford Terriers. Wofford finished 41-18 and won the Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed.

North Carolina is the No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Tournament and opens the regional against the Long Island Sharks (33-23), who won the Northeast Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed. North Carolina (42-13) after losing to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.

The Chapel Hill Regional matches up with the Tucson Regional in the super regionals. That region consists of Arizona, Grand Canyon, West Virginia and Dallas Baptist. Interestingly, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] could match up with Arizona, his former school.

Also, LSU has filed a host bid, so if there is an upset winner in the Tucson Regional and LSU wins the Chapel Hill Regional, the Tigers would host the super regional.

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Wofford transfer BJ Mack includes LSU in top 5

The Tigers are among the finalists for the First Team All-SoCon selection.

With five LSU players entering the transfer portal since the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, it’s not surprising that the Tigers have been among the more active teams when it comes to reaching out to portal prospects heading into coach Matt McMahon’s second season.

One of the first players LSU reached out to was [autotag]BJ Mack[/autotag], a forward transfer from Wofford, and that work has apparently paid off as the Tigers were included among Mack’s top five alongside South Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa and Alabama.

A 6-foot-8 player originally from Charlotte, Mack played in and started 32 games as a senior in 2022-23, averaging 16.6 points and 5.6 rebounds.

Mack was a First Team All-Southern Conference selection last season, and landing an experienced player of his caliber for the frontcourt would certainly help soften some of the losses in the portal.

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