Nelson Maldonado turned, took two steps and stopped. He’d seen this before, and he knew there was nothing he could do.
Playing in right field earlier in the eighth inning, he’d already watched a no-doubt two-run homer sail over his head. Later in the inning, he’d watched another one rocket over the left field wall. And now, two batters later, he watched as another ball — and the lead — floated over his head once again.
It was that final home run that completed the total implosion of No. 13 Florida’s bullpen and gave No. 4 LSU its first lead. From there, the Tigers only added on in their sweep-avoiding 10-6 win over the Gators on Sunday at McKethan Stadium.
“We just have to do a better job competing,” first baseman JJ Schwarz said. “Whenever you get the chance to sweep on an SEC weekend, you’ve gotta take advantage and have that killer instinct.... We didn’t have it today.”
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan called the loss “disappointing,” but it didn’t look disappointing early. Aside from a first-inning error from shortstop Christian Hicks, the Gators (16-9, 2-4 SEC) largely dominated the Tigers on both offense and defense.
The offense was led by Schwarz, Maldonado and third baseman Jonathan India, who all picked up RBIs.
In addition to watching home runs travel over the fence, Maldonado also hit one, holding up his index finger in triumph as he trotted toward first base. The other two run producers, meanwhile, each notched two RBIs.
India’s pair came on a bases-loaded, two-out, full-count single that gave the Gators a five-run lead entering the sixth inning. At that point, it looked like the Tigers were done with the way UF starter Jackson Kowar was pitching.
He’d seen some close calls earlier in the game — like when he faced runners on second and third with one out in the fourth inning and struck out two consecutive LSU hitters to close the frame — but he’d always found a way out.
That changed in the sixth inning.
Kowar left the bases loaded and a 5-0 lead for sophomore Michael Byrne, who came on in relief. Byrne allowed a two-run single that got LSU (18-7, 4-2 SEC) on the scoreboard.
Two innings later, it was Byrne who began the implosion of UF’s bullpen when he surrendered a two-run homer to LSU’s Josh Smith.
He got pulled in favor of senior Frank Rubio, who hit the first batter he faced before surrendering another two-run homer.
He got pulled for freshman Andrew Baker, who — wait for it — hit the first batter he faced. He was then pulled for freshman Kirby McMullen, who surrendered another two-run homer, leading to celebratory grunts, shoves and chest thumps from LSU’s entire bench.
Kowar, who went 5 and 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs, said he blames himself for LSU’s comeback and called his performance one of the worst outings of his career.
“I’ll have to figure it out,” he said, “or I won’t be pitching much more.”
UF has to shake off the loss quickly with a date against No. 14 Florida State looming on Tuesday in Jacksonville. But despite the loss on Sunday, the Gators do have some positives to take into their next game.
They won a series against a top-five team, had a productive offense on Sunday even though they lost and have already beaten FSU once this season.
Nevertheless, O’Sullivan wasn’t pleased with his team choking away a winnable game.
“We had a five-run lead,” he said. “That should be enough.”
Contact Ethan Bauer at ebauer@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @ebaueri
UF reliever Michael Byrne throws a pitch during Florida's 1-0 win against LSU on Friday at McKethan Stadium.
