During the Chapel Hill Regional, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] left no stone unturned when it came to pitching. He went through just about every pitcher on the roster to dig the Tigers out of the losers’ bracket and get them to a winner-take-all game seven against North Carolina on Monday.
After the Tigers beat the Tar Heels to force that final game, Johnson was asked about who he was going to have to pitch in the final game of the regional. To which, Jay responded “A chip and a chair.”
That was the motto that the Tigers had taken on for the SEC Tournament and onto the Chapel Hill Regional. The idea was, that as long as LSU still had a chip left and a chair at the table, they could still go all in. The chip Johnson went with to start game seven was [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag]. That chip was quickly taken away and [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] was put on the table. After he was taken out, Johnson went with [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag].
Hellmers, a senior from Metairie, Louisiana, has been through the wringer in Baton Rouge. As a freshman, he appeared in 20 games, making nine starts and finishing with a 6-2 record and a 4.08 ERA. That was the start of what seemed to be a promising career at LSU for Hellmers.
His next two seasons didn’t go as planned. He only appeared in six games during his sophomore season and seven games during his junior year and he only pitched a total of 22 innings in those years combined. He suffered a nagging arm injury that kept him from being 100%.
This season, he had his best year as a Tiger. He played in 20 games once again and this time he finished with a 1-0 record and a 2.31 ERA. He only gave up a run in three of those 20 games. Johnson had the utmost trust in him in any situation. During the SEC Tournament, LSU found themselves in an elimination game against South Carolina and the Tigers needed a pitcher to come in and hold the rope for at least a couple of innings. Johnson called on Hellmers.
Will pitched two innings and did not give up any runs or any hits and the Tigers eventually came back to win the game 12-11. After the game ended, Johnson said postgame “We won this game because of [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag].”
That’s 40 Wins ✅@LSUCoachJ | #ThePowerhouse pic.twitter.com/6Fzrbr3K8i
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) May 25, 2024
Fast forward to the biggest game of the season and Johnson needed a pitcher to eat some innings and be clutch for LSU, he called on Hellmers once again. Will put on the best performance of his career. He pitched 5.2 innings and gave up zero runs on two hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. It was the longest he had pitched during his career. His previous record was 5.0 innings against New Orleans and Southern University back in 2021 when he was a starter.
He gave it everything he had and put the Tigers in a position to win the game and host a super regional against West Virginia. Although the Tigers lost, we still should acknowledge how incredible Hellmers did to put the Tigers in a position to win.
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