OMAHA, Neb. — Coming out of last season, LSU coach Jay Johnson couldn't have foreseen the national championship this group of tenacious Tigers is taking back to Baton Rouge.
''It was probably a year ago today," he said, ''we had 12 players in our program that actually played on the field for us in 2024. Twelve."
Then, quoting his mentor and LSU baseball patriarch Skip Bertman, Johnson said: ''We ended up with some really good fortune."
LSU knocked previously unbeaten Coastal Carolina ace Jacob Morrison out of the game with a four-run fourth inning and the Tigers won their second national title in three years Sunday with a 5-3 victory in the College World Series finals.
The Tigers (53-15) completed a two-game sweep of the Chanticleers (56-13), who entered the finals on a 26-game win streak and on Sunday saw coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling ejected in the bottom of the first inning.
LSU gave the Southeastern Conference its sixth straight national title in baseball and 11th in 16 years. It was LSU's eighth, all since 1991 and second most all-time behind Southern California's 12.
Johnson became the first Division I coach to win two titles in his first four years at a school. No other coach had accomplished that feat in fewer than eight seasons.
''It's not to be taken for granted, being here two years ago,'' Johnson said. ''That was special. Greatest night of my life. This is equal and maybe even tops in some ways.''