Gators Have Their Backs To The Wall After Dropping 4-3 Decision to LSU

Photo Credit UAA

After spending their first three games of the College World Series living on the edge and surviving, the Florida Gators came up one run short in game one of the best-of-three championship series Saturday night, falling to LSU, 4-3, in 11 innings on a leadoff home run to deep right field by Cade Beloso.

Winners by a single run in each of their first three games, the Gators had chances to push across a game-winner in both the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings but each time they couldn’t deliver the clutch hit for a walk-off win. When Beloso hammered an 0-1 pitch for his 16th home run of the season, the Gators had one last shot at either extending the game or walking it off, but lefty reliever Riley Cooper got a 1-2-3 inning on a fly ball to left and back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

With the loss, the Gators (54-16) have their backs against the wall. Florida has to win Sunday (2 p.m.) or the season is over. Win, and the Gators have a chance to send the game into a deciding game three Monday night. Florida will send righthander Hurston Waldrep (10-3, 3.99 ERA) to the mound Sunday.

It was an uphill battle for much of the game for Florida, which struggled to make contact with LSU starter Ty Floyd, who gave up five hits while striking out 17 in eight innings. Cooper came on in relief in the ninth, escaping that inning when he struck out Richie Schiekofer with Luke Heyman on second. In the bottom of the 10th, the Gators had runners on first and second with only one out but couldn’t capitalize. Colby Halter reached when he was hit on the wrist and Cade Kurland singled off the glove of Cooper, but Josh Pearson made a leaping grab in left to prevent Wyatt Langford’s laser beam liner from getting over his head. Cooper got Jac Caglianone to pop out for the final out, setting the stage for Beloso’s heroics in the top of the 11th.

LSU had its chances to blow the game wide open in the first four innings off Florida starter Brandon Sproat, who had electric stuff when he could locate it in the strike zone. The Tigers scored a single run in the first, another in the third and sent six batters to the plate in each of the first four innings but each time they threatened a big inning, Sproat came through with clutch pitches to escape.

In the first, Sproat hit LSU leadoff hitter Dylan Crews, who moved to second one out later on an 11-pitch walk to Gavin Dugas. Beloso went opposite field to single in Crews to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Further damage was avoided when Sproat struck out Brayden Jobert for the third out.

LSU loaded the bases in the second on an Alex Milazzo single that was sandwiched between two walks, but a liner by White that Colby Halter snagged at third and a strikeout of Tre Morgan ended the threat. Dugas homered to lead off the third to stake LSU to a 2-0 lead but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize on a single by Beloso and an error by Cade Kurland because Sproat got a fielder’s choice ground out and a strikeout of Milazzo to end the inning.

Florida chipped away with a run in its half of the third when Kurland walked with one out, moved to third on a double to right center by Langford and came home on a ground out by Caglianone. Floyd erased the threat when he struck out Josh Rivera for out three.

Sproat continued his Houdini act in the fourth when LSU loaded the bases on a 2-out single by Morgan, a double to shallow center field by Dugas and an intentional walk to Beloso, but Jobert went down on strikes to end yet another threat.

When Sproat walked Jordan Thompson to lead off the fifth, Kevin O’Sullivan called in freshman lefty Cade Fisher from the bullpen. Fisher set the Tigers down in order and the Gators responded in their half of the inning with a Ty Evans double down the left field line, a sacrifice bunt by Colby Halter and a groundout to second by Kurland.

After Fisher delivered a scoreless sixth, BT Riopelle hammered his 18th homer of the season, a no doubter from the moment it left his bat, giving the Gator a 3-2 lead that held until Tommy White homered in the eighth off Fisher. When Morgan followed with a single, O’Sullivan went to Neely, who got a fly ball to center field and a strikeout to end the inning.

Fisher was untouchable in the seventh, but he hung a slider on an 0-2 count to Tommy White with one out in the eighth and the All-American third baseman made him pay with a 400-foot home run to left that tied the game at 3-3. When Morgan singled to left, O’Sullivan went to the bullpen to bring in Neely to face Dugas, who had homered off Sproat earlier. Dugas hit a fly ball to center for an easy out and Beloso went down swinging on three pitches for the final out.

The loss ended Florida’s eight-game postseason winning streak that dated back to the morning after a loss to Texas Tech. The Gators won that one thanks to a 12-strikeout performance by Waldrep, who will be charged with keeping Florida’s hopes of a national championship alive Sunday afternoon. Following that win, the Gators knocked off Texas Tech twice to advance to host a super regional.

So, the Gators know how to play in losers go home situations. The question heading into Sunday enough to win the game, but for the fourth straight game in Omaha they struggled to find any consistency at the plate. Florida came into the College World Series with one of the more impressive offenses in the country, but four games have produced only 17 runs. Saturday night against LSU, the Gators were 0-8 with runners in scoring position.

To get back into a groove at the plate, the Gators will need to do a better job of making contact than they did Saturday night. Floyd and Cooper struck out a combined 20 Gators, allowing only six hits while walking two.

Sproat, Fisher and Neely struck out 16 Tigers but they allowed 11 hits, walked eight hitters, threw a wild pitch and hit one batter. LSU was 1-12 with runners in scoring position.