The eighth seed continued to be the hot spot in the Southeastern Conference Championship Tournament on Wednesday night in Hoover, Ala.
LSU became the fifth-straight No. 8 seed to beat the No. 1-seeded team in the SEC tournament after a 10-6 win against the No. 1 seed Florida Gators.
The Tigers (37-20) did it with 19 hits and a return-to-form outing by starting pitcher Anthony Ranaudo to down the Gators (40-14).
“It was a great victory for us, but any win here in good,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri in a postgame radio interview. “I’m proud of the way our guys played today.”
LSU began scoring in the second inning when the Tigers notched five runs off a solo home run and a slew of RBI singles.
Senior designated hitter Matt Gaudet blasted a home run off Florida starting pitcher Brian Johnson to get LSU on the board.
Then freshman left fielder Mason Katz drove in two runs with an RBI single up the middle.
The bases were loaded when junior catcher Micah Gibbs grounded into a double play, but Katz made it home for the Tigers’ fourth run.
Sophomore shortstop Austin Nola claimed the final run of the top of the second when he brought in sophomore right fielder Mikie Mahtook with a single to left field.
“It was good for our team to come out and get some hard punches like we did,” Nola said. “We did a good job tacking on runs.”
Florida responded with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the second inning to score the Gators’ first run, but LSU had more offense in its tank, tying its most hits against an SEC team this season with 19.
The Tigers were led by three hits each by senior first baseman Blake Dean, Nola and Katz.
“Our intention was to come out aggressive,” Mainieri said. “We came up with some clutch hits when we needed them.”
Johnson left the game after 3 2/3 innings of work. Florida freshman pitcher Anthony Desclafani came in with LSU hitters on the corners.
Nola nailed an RBI single to left center field to give LSU a 6-1 advantage. Dean then scored off a wild pitch by Desclafani for the Tigers’ second run of the fourth inning.
The Gators scored most of their in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Florida senior outfielder Matt den Dekker slammed a solo home run. LSU reliever Paul Bertuccini came in and gave up two runs off single RBIs from Josh Adams and Tyler Thompson, but the senior struck out Florida’s Ben McMahan to retire the side.
Mahtook added insurance in the ninth inning with an RBI single, scoring Edwards to give LSU a four-run lead.
Ranaudo recorded his longest outing of season in 7 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.
“I feel good,” Ranaudo said. “Anytime you can go out there and control three different kinds of pitches, it builds your confidence.”
LSU will play No. 24 Vanderbilt Thursday night 30 minutes following the 4:30 p.m. game between Alabama and Ole Miss.
—-Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected].