GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
OMAHA, Nebraska – When you have the former best pitching coach in college baseball and the present one, you’ve already got two strikes on your opponent.
That’s how LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson felt Sunday before his Tigers beat Coastal Carolina, 5-3, to win his second national championship in three years with LSU at the College World Series.
LSU Baseball Dominance Part Deux Arrives!https://t.co/yzFBgE9eGo
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 22, 2025
“He came into the coaches’ locker room today,” Johnson said. “I knew he was coming, but it still caught me off guard for a second. And I was like, ‘Oh, we’re winning today. The man with the magic is in the house.'”
That man is 87-year-old Skip Bertman, who rallies back from health issues the way his LSU teams and Johnson’s do in ninth innings. The LSU baseball coach who won the Tigers’ first five national championships from 1991-2000 wanted to bless this coach and team on their way to his second.
“Then he started talking about like what we were going to do for the celebration,” Johnson said.
Remember, Bertman did make his first Miami Beach High national championship team in the 1960s practice carrying him off the field before they won it all.
“You have to see it,” he always said.
“I was like, ‘Coach, this is a pretty good team that hadn’t lost in two months (until Saturday) that we have to figure out how to beat,'” Johnson said. “But he’s the best, and I think it’s so awesome that he’s here, and that he got to share in this championship game.”
Bertman arrived on Sunday. No need for the preliminaries. He just came for the title and brought his 5-0 record in national championship games with him.
“I knew there wasn’t going to be the if necessary game on Monday,” he said on the field during the national championship celebration.
THE SKIP BERTMAN IMPACT ON JAY JOHNSON
Johnson has been mentioning Bertman in press conferences at least once a week since he took the job before the 2022 season, so it was about time Bertman show in person just before the next title. That’s eight now, for those of you scoring at home, with Bertman hire Paul Mainieri winning one in 2009 and now two for Bertman’s Grasshopper Johnson, who calls Bertman mentor.
“Literally, the best part of me being the head coach at LSU has been the relationship that I have with Coach Bertman,” Johnson said. “I would say the two national championships are up there tied for first with that, and I think he’d be okay with that.”
Also in the coaching locker room enjoying Bertman’s surprise visit was LSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie, another Grasshopper to Master Bertman. (For young readers, these are references to the “Kung Fu” television show in the 1970s.)
Bertman is either lunching with Johnson or Yeskie or both about once a week.
I feel like LSU has already won this national championship. Column:https://t.co/EOPxkpTTUx
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 21, 2025
Yeskie is regarded as the best pitching coach in college baseball, or close to it. He was the only active assistant coach to have gone to the College World Series with three programs – Oregon State in 2013, ’17 and in ’18 for the national championship, Arizona in 2021 with Johnson and Texas A&M in 2022. Make that only active assistant coach to have gone to the CWS with four programs now along with a second national title.
Yeskie is also the first pitching coach that Johnson has been able to keep for back-to-back seasons at LSU, and that had an extremely significant mark on this pitching staff. Ace Kade Anderson, for example, was named the World Series MVP on Sunday. All he did was go 2-0 in two starts here with a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings with 17 strikeouts, one run and six hits allowed and a .120 batting average.
NATE YESKIE KEPT COACHING STRONG LIKE HIS DAD WOULD’VE WANTED
Anderson may well be the first pick in the Major League Baseball Draft on July 13 to the Washington Nationals. A year ago, he was coming off a very average season of 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA. In five Southeastern Conference games, he was 0-1 in one start with a 27.00 ERA as he allowed 10 runs and 12 hits in three and a third innings.
Chase Shores got two saves this week and pitched four times in the World Series. He got the save Sunday, striking out four in two and two-thirds innings and allowing one hit and zero walks. Shores has walked no one in his last five appearances over seven innings. Just last June 8, he walked the bases loaded against Little Rock in the NCAA Regional and three against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament and at least two in nine of his first 10 appearances this season.
Just last April Shores was demoted from the weekend starting rotation. If he doesn’t enter the draft as a redshirt sophomore next month, he could be next year’s Kade Anderson, particularly if Yeskie sticks around for another season. But Shores is likely to enter the draft.
Other pitchers like Zac Cowan, Jaden Noot and Cooper Williams have made marked improvement as the season closed after struggling earlier in the season. Jacob Mayers and Mavrick Rizy have also prospered, among others. Even Anthony Eyanson, who improved to 12-2 with the win on Sunday, struggled a tad this season.
Under Yeskie’s tutelage, LSU has led the nation in strikeouts the last two seasons. Anderson finished at No. 1 in the nation with 180, while Eyanson was No. 3 with 152.
Before Bertman became Omaha’s Mr. Magic with cinematic walk-off wins that won national championships in 1996 on Warren Morris’ home run and in 2000 on Brad Cresse’s single, he was THE pitching coach of college baseball as Miami’s associate head coach. And he remained the pitching coach all through his head coaching years at LSU.
And Bertman often doesn’t think much of many a pitching coach, but he loves him some Yeskie. As does Johnson. As do Shores, and Anderson, and Casan Evans and everyone with an arm on LSU’s staff.
“It’s amazing,” Johnson said of Yeskie. “I mentioned why pitchers should want to come here – Oregon State, Arizona, Texas A&M, LSU. So, all of you college baseball historians, find me another pitching coach that’s gone to Omaha with four programs. Now double national championship – Oregon State and LSU.”
None.
“And Big Leaguers and All-Americans and all of that,” Johnson said. “Nate is the best pitching coach in college baseball. We’ve led the country in strikeouts two years in a row. I mean, I think it really speaks for itself. And I’m proud of him. He’s a friend and loyal, hard working. And he’s really good at what he does.”
And Johnson, as he did two years ago at this same time, morphed from present national champion coach to future national champion coach by recruiting from the Charles Schwab press conference podium.
“If you’re a pitcher out there, high school or portal, you should want to come here largely because of Nate,” he said. “And Jamie Tutko is our director of pitching development and analytics, and has helped take this thing to a new level as well. We’ve got it all. I’m just really proud of that side of the ball.”
So, he can focus on the other side as offensive coordinator.
“We had to elevate the talent in the LSU baseball program on the mound when I took over here,” he said.
And he said it again after losing the NCAA Regional at Southern Mississippi in his first season.
“And we have, and we’ve developed them as good as I ever would have dreamed of or imagined,” Johnson said.
About as good as Skip would.
“If you’re a pitcher, and you don’t want to come here right now, you’re out to lunch,” Johnson cracked – in full recruiting mode now. After all, the season is over.
“You’re not thinking clearly,” he said. “Because that’s three dudes that pitched in this series (Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, Chase Shores) who are all going to be in the Major Leagues within 18 months.”
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