Johnson made all the right moves to quickly build LSU

“I really believe this will go down as one of the best teams in college baseball history,” Johnson said. “So consistent in the regular season. I think the SEC Tournament is the only week of the year we had a losing record, if you think about that. Eleven wins in the postseason, six of them against SEC teams.”

Johnson didn’t mention LSU (5417) won two of three CWS meetings with No. 1 national seed Wake Forest, the Atlantic Coast Conference team that had replaced the Tigers atop the polls seven weeks ago.

Crews had been the catalyst for the program since he opted out of the 2020 amateur draft to sign with LSU. Crews became a two-time SEC player of the year, and he or Skenes likely will be taken first in next month’s draft.

The Golden Spikes Award and national title completed a season in which the center fielder batted .426, hit 17 homers, scored 100 runs and drove in 70.

“I feel all boxes are checked off now,” he said.

Johnson’s 2022 LSU team went 40-22, finished in the top four of the SEC for the first time since 2017 and lost in the NCAA regional finals at Southern Mississippi.

Coaching in the uber-competitive SEC was a major adjustment for Johnson, and his first run through the league laid the groundwork for elevating the program to a national championship level.

He hired pitching coach Wes Johnson away from the Minnesota Twins, landed the top players available in the transfer portal and signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.

Skenes, the CWS Most Outstanding Player, came from Air Force, added 5 mph to his fastball and had what ESPN analyst Kyle Peterson one of the most dominant seasons ever by a college pitcher. Skenes set the SEC record for strikeouts in a season and was the first collegian in 12 years to fan more than 200.

White, who came from North Carolina State, hit 24 home runs and led the nation with 105 RBIs after taking over for first-round draft pick Jacob Berry at third base. White hit the 11th-inning walk-off home run against Wake Forest that put LSU in the finals.

Thatcher Hurd, who came from UCLA, was a weekend starter and middle reliever who matched his season high with six innings while earning the win in Monday’s 18-4 win.

The freshman class yielded Gavin Guidry and Griffin Herring, both of whom played major roles out of the bullpen in Omaha.

New Alabama Vaughn set to make $900,000

New Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn is set to make at least $900,000 annually under his five-year deal.

The University of Alabama trustees compensation committee approved the new deal for Vaughn on Tuesday, along with contracts for other coaches and administrators.

Vaughn’s deal includes an array of bonuses, including one month’s pay ($82,500) for winning or sharing a Southeastern Conference regular-season title and two months pay ($163,000) for winning a national championship.

Vaughn replaced Brad Bohannon, who was fired in May after a report of suspicious bets involving his team, with the school saying he violated “the standards, duties and responsibilities expected of university employees.”

Vaughn spent the past six seasons as head coach at Maryland, where he was the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2023.