Not too much changed between days in the third round of the SEC Tournament after the game between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators (42-17, 20-10 SEC) got postponed from late Friday night until Saturday morning due to fog.
The Gators were down 10-0 in the bottom of the sixth before the delay. They lost 11-0 in seven innings following the delay.
LSU (36-24, 15-15 SEC) beat up Florida particularly bad in the aforementioned sixth inning.
Going into the inning up 3-0, the Tigers attacked in the bottom of the sixth and UF was not up for the challenge. The Bayeux Bengals were aided by two Florida errors, a hit-by-pitch, a walk, a balk, two wild pitches and a passed ball in the inning.
Of the eight runs scored in the frame, only one was recorded as earned.
In all, LSU scored 11 runs on 7 hits.
UF starter Jack Leftwich got the loss for the game, going five innings and giving up three runs (one earned). Three Florida relievers (Hunter McMullen, Jordan Butler, Kirby McMullen) combined for the next three outs, each recording 0.1 innings pitched.
Although Leftwich got the L, the offense didn’t provide him with any run support.
Shortstop Deacon Liput had the best day for the Gators, going 2 for 3 with both hits being singles. UF also failed to notch any extra-base hits for the game.
The other three singles came courtesy of designated hitter Nelson Maldonado, first baseman Keenan Bell who was subbed in for Brady Smith in the bottom of the fifth and center fielder Nick Horvath.
For LSU, right fielder Antoine Duplantis and pinch and designated hitter Daniel Cabrera shined. The duo each went 2 for 4 with a double and Duplantis had three RBIs while Cabrera had two.
After the Gators took a shellacking from LSU on Saturday, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan took responsibility for his team’s play.
“Ultimately everything falls on my shoulders. It's my responsibility to get these guys in a good place this week,” O’Sullivan said in a release. “Anything that happens bad on the field is my fault. We'll get together as a staff on the way home and when we get back to Gainesville and put some thoughts together to get these guys going and put them in the best position possible to be successful next weekend.”
Florida has been without starting pitcher and consensus first-round pick Brady Singer for over two weeks.
It looks like UF is lost without Singer, as it has dropped six out of its last seven games without him.
But, the good news for Gator fans is that he should be ready for the NCAA Regionals.
“The best thing about today was Brady Singer threw a pen and looked great, he looks healthy,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida will find out who it plays and what seed it received for the NCAA Regional Monday at noon.
You can follow Chris O’Brien on Twitter @THEChrisOB and contact him at cobrien@alligator.org.
Deacon Liput was the only Gator to record multiple hits on Friday night/Saturday morning against LSU.
