The Empire Is Back! LSU Baseball Dynasty Returns To Omaha; Tigers Vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Saturday, Other Game Times
BATON ROUGE, La. - The only party bigger than the one on the infield of LSU's Alex Box Stadium Sunday night was at Barrett's Barleycorn Pub & Grill on Leavenworth Street in Omaha, Nebraska.
"Everyone here was ecstatic when LSU won," said Jack Barrett, a manager at Barrett's and son of owner Karen Barrett. "We're looking forward to great business over the next two weekends for sure. LSU brings the most fans here than anyone, and we need them back."
The No. 5 national seed Tigers (48-15) beat No. 12 seed Kentucky, 8-3, Sunday after a 14-0 win Saturday to win the best-of-three Super Regional and advance to LSU's first College World Series since 2017.
The Tigers will play Tennessee (43-20) at 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. The Vols defeated Southern Mississippi, 5-0, late Monday to advance. The CWS opens on Friday at 2 p.m. with TCU (42-22) playing Oral Roberts (51-12) at 2 p.m. on ESPN. No. 2 seed Florida (50-15) and No. 7 seed Virginia (50-13) play at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
The opener Saturday will pit No. 1 seed Wake Forest (52-10) against No. 8 Stanford (44-18), which won in wild fashion late Monday over Texas.
Sunday night at LSU, meanwhile, was wild itself. Skip Bertman Field looked more like the infield at the Kentucky Derby or the one at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans used for the Jazz Fest every spring.
LSU baseball players celebrate an 8-3 win over Kentucky at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday night for their first trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, since 2017. (Photo By OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau).
LSU and first-year coach Jay Johnson lost in the NCAA Regional round last season at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. No. 1 Tennessee swept the Tigers in a Super Regional in Knoxville in 2021 in coach Paul Mainieri's last season before retiring. Florida State swept LSU in a Super Regional at Alex Box in 2019, and the Tigers lost in the Regional round at Oregon State in 2018.
"It has been too long without the Tigers and their fans in Omaha," Barrett said as he prepared to make larger than normal beer orders. "We'll be stocked up. LSU has always been the top school for bringing fans here. Even when the team doesn't make it here, a bunch of LSU fans still show up."
LSU fans celebrate with players on Skip Bertman field Sunday after their first Super Regional championship since 2017. (Photo By OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau).
LSU Has Won 6 Baseball National Championships
The Tigers have won more national championships than any school since 1991 with six, including five in 10 years under former coach Skip Bertman - 1991, '93, '96, '97 and 2000. There was another one in 2009 under Mainieri.
Texas and LSU are tied for second all-time with the most national titles at six behind USC's 12. From 1986 through 2000, no one reached Omaha more than LSU with 11 trips under Bertman. His replacement, Smoke Laval, went in 2003 and '04. Mainieri kept the travel log going with trips in 2008, '09, '13, '15 and '17.
Bertman took LSU for the first time in 1986. Between then and the last trip in 2017, there was never a gap of more than four years in between trips to Omaha. A six-year gap just ended.
"That's way too long," LSU fan and New Orleans restaurant owner Mike Serio of Serio's Po-Boys said near the pitcher's mound as the party rolled. "Can't wait to get to Omaha. You know, I've been 24 times."
College World Series Trips Are Common For LSU Fans
LSU has only been 18 times. Many fan have made flight and hotel plans over the years just figuring LSU will go. When the team doesn't, they still go.
Bertman, 85, plans on being there. He was in the infield, too, hugging Johnson.
"That was one of the best things to see out of this whole celebration," said an LSU athletic department employee on the infield. "Skip was just standing there soaking it all in. It was awesome."
Bertman retired from coaching after the 2001 season when he narrowly missed a 12th trip to Omaha with the Tigers. He worked as athletic director until 2008 and hired Mainieri, who won the school's sixth title.
"This is a great team. They have everything - hitting, power hitting, the best pitcher in the country (Paul Skenes). Dylan Crews is the best player in the country. The bullpen's getting better. They can win it," Bertman said.
LSU center fielder Dylan Crews sports several pairs of beads he was given by fans on the infield of Alex Box Stadium Sunday night after the Tigers clinched a trip to the College World Series. (Photo By OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau).
Crews doubled in two runs in the top of the ninth for the 8-3 lead in his last at-bat at LSU.
"I was just trying to control myself, control my breathing," said Crews, who is hitting .434 on the season with 17 home runs and 67 RBIs. "It was awesome. We're finally going to Omaha."
Senior Cade Beloso's three-run home run in the third inning put LSU up 4-1, but he struggled to remember it.
"I finally found a pitch I could stay behind and put a good swing on," he said. "I don't know what happened after that. I'd be lying if I told you I remembered. Once I saw the ball go over the fence, I kind of just blacked out."
He did manage to touch 'em all.
The infield party finally ended after about 45 minutes, and the Tigers made their way to the postgame press conference.
"Wow," a drained Johnson said. "First off, thanks for your patience. That's special out there. And did not want to rush them off the field. And so proud of this team. I wanted these guys to experience that so bad."
Jay Johnson Idolized Skip Bertman
Johnson, 46, left the head coaching job at Arizona after reaching Omaha in 2016 and 2021 to come to LSU largely because of what Bertman did.
"I'm 12 years old, and I had a LSU baseball hat in northern California watching the purple jerseys run around Omaha all the time," he said. "To get to coach this team in the College World Series, I'm having a hard time putting that into words. But it's pretty special."
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson has reached the College World Series with the Tigers in his second season. (Photo By OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau).
Johnson has idolized Bertman since he got into coaching. Shortly after Arizona's season ended in Omaha in 2021, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward offered Johnson the job.
"Probably wouldn't have gone anywhere else," Johnson said. "The gentleman sitting back there, Coach Skip Bertman, made this the place. I thought, 'Wow, this is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-career opportunity and dream come true to be part of this.'"
Johnson also had a vision.
"I had 2023 on my mind when I came here," he said. "Dylan Crews was a large reason I accepted this job. I would have come anyways because of Coach Bertman, what he did. But that's a special player. That's a generational player. To get to coach him for two years, wow."
LSU To Chase 7th National Championship
With probably the best talent in the country, Johnson was supposed to get this far. So, that pressure's off.
"I'm so honored to be here," he said. "I'm happy for the fans. And I just love how everybody's behind us. It makes me happy that they're happy that they can pack up the motor home, RVs, hop on a flight, get up there and hang out in Nebraska for 10, 12 days."
That would make all the Barretts and most everyone else at Barrett's Barley Corn Pub & Grill very happy.
"Really excited to go to Omaha and chase a national championship with the players," Johnson said. "And if they are in character, we'll have a great chance to do that. I will not promise we'll win it, but everything will be invested by everybody to go do that."