Six Florida home runs and quiet bats amounted to a 12-2, eight-inning loss, and a 2-1 series loss for LSU baseball.
An Omaha rematch between Thatcher Hurd and Jac Caglianone came out in favor of Florida. Following an ejection, LSU’s will to compete went stale, which quickly showed up on the field. This was the Tigers second consecutive SEC series loss.
READ MORE: LSU baseball comes up short in extra innings, falls 6-4 to Florida in game two of series
The first run of the game came in the fourth for LSU. A Pearson double was capitalized on by the clutch hitting of Ethan Frey, once again.
Florida then piled it on in the fifth. Colby Shelton hit a two-run home run that put the Gators on the board. Mac Bingham nearly caught a ball that would’ve ended the inning but ended up being a two RBI double. Florida hit another two-run homer shortly after.
A Jared Jones home run in the fifth was LSU’s only response the rest of the game.
Following the homer, an exchanging of words between Jones and Caglianone resulted in a warning. After Travinski struck out to end the inning, Caglianone chirped at Travinski. Taking issue with no response by the umpires, head coach Jay Johnson was ejected for the first time during his tenure at LSU.
“To me, there’s no point in giving a warning if you’re not gonna do something about it when something happens thirty second after,” Johnson said.
After the altercation, LSU rolled over and Florida turned it up. Pent up emotions of revenge from Omaha sparked four home runs and a 10-run margin of victory.
Shelton had another two-run shot in the sixth, further extending the lead.
In the eighth, three homers added four runs and set up the game to end early. Ultimately, LSU didn’t answer offensively, and the game finished in eight innings, with the 10-run rule taking effect.
Hurd went 4.2 innings, allowing six hits, five runs and striking out five.
Anderson allowed two home runs in his single inning, including from his first batter. Coleman, who came in after, also allowed two homers in his two innings. The last home run came off Little in his brief appearance in the eighth.
“Whatever you want to call it, concentration, attitude, effort. That was clearly lacking,” said Johnson. “That was tough to watch.”
Caglianone finished with three hits allowed in seven innings and a home run on offense.
Shelton went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI.
After starting the game close, as things got chippy, LSU was completely outplayed on both sides of the ball for the entire second half.
“Those four innings are the most disappointed I’ve been in a long time,” Johnson said.
LSU has been run-ruled for two consecutive Sunday’s and is a week out from facing the number one ranked team in Arkansas.
The Tigers will have a premier opportunity to prove their now questionable ability to hit against top arms this coming weekend. Hurd looks to embody the expectations he had coming into the year, and what was seen from him last June.
An ugly loss against a rival school can only be a benefit if LSU makes it one by converting the game to a seasonal pivot point.
