Alex Box electric as LSU defeats Florida, 5-4
Kramer Robertson singled home Cole Freeman with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give LSU a 5-4 victory against Florida in the opening game of their Southeastern Conference series Friday night at The Box.
HOW THEY SCORED
Florida second inning – With two out, Jeremy Vasquez singled. Dalton Guthrie had a bunt single and Vasquez scored on a throwing error by catcher Jordan Romero. FLORIDA 1, LSU 0
LSU third inning – Freeman walked and Antoine Duplantis singled. Both Freeman and Duplantis moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Robertson. Freeman scored on a single by Jake Fraley. FLORIDA 1, LSU 1
LSU fifth inning – Duplantis and Fraley singled. Fraley was forced at second on a ground ball to the shortstop by Robertson. Duplantis scored on a ground out to the shortstop by Romero. LSU 2, FLORIDA 1
Florida sixth inning – Mike Rivera hit a leadoff home run over the leftfield fence. FLORIDA 2, LSU 2
LSU sixth inning – With two out, Greg Deichmann singled and scored on Freeman’s double. Freeman advanced to third on a wild relay throw by third baseman Jonathan India. Freeman scored on an infield single by Duplantis. LSU 4, FLORIDA 2
Florida seventh inning – With one out, India singled and stole second base. After JJ Schwarz struck out, Buddy Reed walked. Both India and Reed moved up a base on a wild pitch by Russell Reynolds. India and Reed scored on a single by Nelson Maldonado. FLORIDA 4, LSU 4
LSU eighth inning – With one out, Freeman reached safely on an error by the first baseman Vasquez who didn’t catch India’s throw. Duplantis singled. After Fraley lined out to the shortstop, Freeman scored on a single by Robertson. LSU 5, FLORIDA 4
LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES
Second inning – With one out, Chris Reid walked and Bryce Jordan was hit by a pitch. Beau Jordan popped out to the shortstop and Deichmann grounded out to the pitcher.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Freeman was the catalyst for the Tigers in three of the four innings in which they scored. Freeman drew a leadoff walk in the third and scored on a single by Fraley which tied the score at 1-1. Freeman doubled home Deichmann in the sixth to give LSU a 3-2 lead. Freeman then scored on a single by Duplantis. In the eighth, Freeman reached on an error and scored the game-winning run on Robertson’s hit. Freeman went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a RBI. He has now hit safely in six consecutive games. In LSU’s last 11 games, Freeman has reached base 32 times in 45 plate appearances – 14 hits, 15 walks, two hit-by-pitches and once by error.
Freeman’s comments: “I am really seeing the ball well. “I really have a good approach at the plate right now. I am just trying to do whatever I can to get on base for the one, two and three hitters in the lineup. On the double, I was looking fast ball. (Dane Dunning) had a real tight slider. I sold out on the fast ball on the pitch before the double and I missed a slider. I figured he would come back with a slider. He hung the slider a little bit. In the eighth inning, I was down in the count. I had two strikes and I just wanted to put the ball in play. I happened to put the ball in a tough spot and it worked out for us.”
ABOUT THE HITTERS
The top two batters in the lineup – Duplantis and Fraley – combined for seven of LSU’s 12 hits. Duplantis matched his season-high with four hits – all singles. Fraley had three singles. Three Tigers starters went hitless – Romero (0-for-4), Beau Jordan (0-for-4) and Reid (0-for-2). . .All but one of LSU’s 12 hits were singles. . .LSU stranded 11 runners – seven in scoring position. The Tigers were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Fraley, Duplantis and Robertson had the three RBI hits with runners in scoring position.
ABOUT THE PITCHERS
Jared Poche gave LSU six solid innings as he gave up just two runs and seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Poche escaped bases-loaded jams in both the first and third innings. In the first, Rivera grounded out to the shortstop Robertson for the third out. In the third, Ryan Larson hit into an inning-ending force out. Poche retired nine of the last 11 batters he faced. Florida hitters were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position against Poche. . .Reynolds lost a two-run lead when he gave up a two-run single by Maldonado with two out in the seventh. Reynolds, who picked up his third win of the year, retired the side in order in the eighth. . .Hunter Newman had a 1-2-3 ninth to record his sixth save of the season. . .LSU pitchers walked four and struck out six.
NOTES
LSU used what has become its normal lineup with Romero the catcher and Bryce Jordan the designated hitter. . .Fraley extended his hitting streak to 15 games with his RBI single in the third. Duplantis has hit safely in his last four games. . .Bryce Jordan was hit by a pitch for the 21st time this season in the second inning. The last LSU player to get hit by a pitch 21 times in a year was Jeremy Witten in 2000. . .Flrida starting pitcher A.J. Puk left the game due to illness in the third inning. Puk walked the leadoff and was removed after throwing two balls to Duplantis. . .Florida committed three errors. The error by Vasquez resulted in the Tigers’ winning run to be unearned. . .The winning run was charged to Nick Horvath. Gators closer Shaun Anderson allowed the game-winning hit by Robertson. . .Guthrie, the son of former LSU pitcher Mark Guthrie, had three of Florida’s nine hits. . .The Tigers are 38-16 overall, 18-10 in the SEC. LSU, which has won ten consecutive games, is in fifth place in the overall SEC standings – 1½ games behind Texas A&M and Mississippi State. Florida is 43-10 overall, 18-9 in the SEC. The Gators are in second place behind South Carolina in the East and in fourth place in the overall standings. . .LSU can clinch a top-four seed in the SEC tournament by sweeping two games Saturday. Florida needs just one victory to clinch a top-four seed. Texas A&M, Mississippi State and South Carolina have clinched top-four seeds. . .The paid attendance was 10,904. The actual crowd was about 7,700.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “This was a great victory. This team continues to not give up. They didn’t play perfect, but they hustled and played hard. We banged out 12 hits against some really outstanding arms. We got the clutch hit by Kramer Robertson in the eighth and we made it stand up in the ninth because Hunter Newman made unbelievable pitch after unbelievable pitch. Jared Poche keeps battling and finds a way to get it done. He has that ingredient where he doesn’t give up. You look up at the scoreboard and it’s a 2-2 ball game after six innings.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to Florida in the resumption of Thursday’s suspended game at The Box on Saturday. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. Central. The game will be resumed in the bottom of the third with no score. LSU has a runner at second with one out. The batter Duplantis has a full count. The LSU-Florida game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.