The past two weekend series for LSU baseball were a living embodiment of the saying “When it rains, it pours.”
The No. 15 Tigers (32-13, 11-10) are in the midst of a torrential downpour of losses, as they have dropped seven straight contests after being swept by No. 6 Florida (31-11, 15-6) this weekend.
The losing streak is LSU’s longest since an 11-game skid in 1982, two years before former coach Skip Bertman’s arrival, and moves LSU into fourth place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, ahead of only Alabama and Mississippi State.
“This was a tough weekend for us against a great team,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “It’s hard to win when you’re playing from behind as much as we were the whole series. We have to move forward. There’s still a lot of baseball left, including three very important conference weekends.”
Sunday’s game — like most of the weekend — saw LSU fall behind early and never catch up.
The Gators jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior center fielder Matt den Dekker hit a two-run home run off LSU sophomore pitcher Matty Ott.
The game was Ott’s first career start for the Tigers. He pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs on eight hits in the outing while striking out three and walking two.
Florida would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the third inning when freshman catcher Austin Maddox hit a three-run bomb to left-center field.
The Tigers would cut into the Gator lead in the fourth inning.
A two-out double to center field by freshman left fielder Alex Edward allowed junior center fielder Leon Landry to score and bring the score to 5-1.
An RBI single from den Dekker and a grand slam from freshman pitcher Brian Johnson blew the game open for the Gators in the bottom half of the frame.
Florida was firmly ahead, 10-1, after four innings.
The Tigers scored five unanswered runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to get as close as four runs.
LSU added another run to its total in the sixth inning when Edward hit a single to right field to allow senior first baseman Blake Dean to score from second base.
The Tigers went on to cut the Gators’ lead to seven runs in the seventh inning.
Sophomore shortstop Austin Nola hit an RBI single to left field that allowed sophomore right fielder Mikie Mahtook to score from second and bring the score to 10-3.
The Tigers had a three-run eighth thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Landry to score and a two-RBI single from Mahtook.
The 10-6 score was the closest the Tigers would come to challenging Florida.
The Gators scored three more in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to its final count.
The game was the sweep-clinching contest as Florida locked up the series win Saturday.
The Tigers and Gators played one and a half games Saturday after Friday’s contest was suspended in the fifth inning because of rain.The odd schedule was no problem for the Gators.
Florida won the first game, 7-3, after freshman pitcher Hudson Randall limited LSU to one run through the course of the first eight innings.
The Gators had already jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the game was suspended Friday.
The Tigers outscored the Gators, 5-1, once the game resumed, but the effort was not enough, and Florida won, 8-5.
“I like the way we’re playing right now,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a news release following the “pseudo” doubleheader. “The young players are starting to think that they’re pretty good, and that’s the time when coaches try to stay out of the way and go a little bit. I like the effort they’re giving, and we’re getting some good leadership from the older guys.”
LSU next takes the field Tuesday night against Southeastern Louisiana in Alex Box Stadium.
Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]