The No. 8 LSU baseball team swept three of its first four series this season. This weekend, the Tigers got a taste of their own medicine.
LSU (16-4, 0-3) left 27 men on base against No. 1 Florida (18-2, 3-0) during the weekend and were swept in a home Southeastern Conference series for the first time since 2006 after falling, 7-3, on Sunday.
“We just didn’t hit in the clutch situations to the level that we needed to all weekend,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It’s a challenge against that level of pitching, but hey, this is the SEC.”
LSU stranded seven runners on base Friday and 10 runners Saturday and Sunday.
The Tigers left runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings Sunday.
“You’ve got to drive them in,” said junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook. “That’s just something you have to do, and we didn’t do that at all this whole weekend.”
Sophomore right fielder Mason Katz gave LSU a 3-0 lead in the third inning Sunday on a blazing ground ball, which tipped off the glove of Florida sophomore third baseman Cody Dent and scored Mahtook.
Florida answered with five runs in the fourth inning, while the Tigers couldn’t get another run across after the third inning.
“I should have done a better job of getting my team up and trying to inspire my team,” said junior third baseman Tyler Hanover.
The Gators smacked six hits in the fourth inning off senior pitcher Ben Alsup. Sophomore catcher Mike Zunino started the scoring with a two-run single to left field.
Junior third baseman Jeff Moyer pinch hit for Dent and smacked a two-out, two-run single to give the Gators a 4-3 lead. He came home on the next at-bat when sophomore shortstop Nolan Fontana ripped an RBI triple off the right field wall to stretch Florida’s lead to 5-3.
Alsup (3-2) lasted four innings and was pulled after giving up a lead-off single in the fifth. He held the Gators scoreless in three of his four innings but was blasted for 11 hits in the game.
“I was around the plate. I just left some pitches up,” Alsup said. “With those kinds of guys, you just can’t do that.”
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Florida added two insurance runs later in the game on solo home runs by senior second baseman Josh Adams and Moyer, who came off the bench and hit 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
“As an offense you’ve got to come back and pick your pitching staff up, and we didn’t do that at all,” Mahtook said.
A lack of timely hitting was even more lethal Saturday as the Tigers left five combined runners on base in the seventh and eighth innings and were shut out, 1-0.
It marked the first time LSU was held scoreless since the 2007 season.
“We just couldn’t get the runs across,” Mainieri said. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a team with nine hits and get shut out.”
LSU freshman pitcher Kevin Gausman (2-1) tossed 118 pitches in eight innings Saturday and gave up one run with four strikeouts and four walks.
“When you know you can’t give up a base hit or walk a guy here, you’re kind of locked in,” Gausman said.
LSU freshman pitcher Kurt McCune was locked in Friday as the momentum swung back and forth before Florida won, 5-4, with a three-run ninth inning.
McCune (3-0) surrendered two runs in the seventh inning and handed the ball to freshman pitcher Ryan Eades, who held the Gators scoreless in the eighth inning.
After the Tigers took a 3-2 lead, Florida launched a solo home run and a two-run single in the ninth inning off junior closer Matty Ott to take a 5-3 lead.
LSU freshman catcher Ty Ross roped an RBI double off the left field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to cut the lead to 5-4 before the Gators retired the next three Tiger batters.
“I thought it was gone,” Mahtook said. “I didn’t think it was even close, to be honest.”
The actual weekend attendance of 28, 215 set an Alex Box record for the second straight weekend.
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]