GAINESVILLE, Fla. – LSU designated hitter Brayden Jobert drove in five runs with two homers Sunday, and freshman right-handers Samuel Dutton and Grant Taylor combined to limit Florida to two runs as the Tigers posted an 11-2 win at Florida Ballpark.
LSU (17-7, 3-3 in SEC) recorded a 2-1 series victory over Florida (17-7, 3-3), marking the Tigers’ first series win in Gainesville since 2012. The series loss for Florida was its first at home since May 10-12, 2019, when the Gators dropped to games to Tennessee.
LSU returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday UL-Monroe in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be broadcast by 98.1-FM and may be viewed on SEC Network +.
“It’s a great accomplishment for our team against a great program,” LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson said. “I thought we attacked at the plate over the last two days, and we had great effort on the mound today and all weekend. We had a bunch of quality at-bats and stuck to our plan against a really good pitching staff.”
Jobert, who had three home runs in the series, blasted a two-run dinger in the fourth and a three-run homer in the sixth to highlight LSU’s 11-run, 12-hit outburst.
Taylor (2-0) earned the win, limiting Florida to two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Dutton worked the first 3.2 innings of the contest, allowing no runs on one hit with three walks and one strikeout.
Florida starter Ryan Slater (2-1) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered four runs on four hits in 3.1 innings with no walks and one strikeout.
After three scoreless innings, the Tigers struck for four runs in the top of the fourth as Jobert and catcher Hayden Travinski each drilled a two-run homer against Slater.
LSU extended its lead to 11-0 in the sixth with a seven-run uprising. First baseman Tre’ Morgan delivered an RBI single, third baseman Jacob Berry lifted a sacrifice fly and second baseman Jordan Thompson flared a run-scoring single into right field to give the Tigers a 7-0 advantage.
Jobert later blasted a three-run homer – his third of the series and seventh of the season – and rightfielder Giovanni DiGiacomo capped the inning with an RBI double, giving LSU an 11-run edge.
The Gators pushed across two runs in the sixth when leftfielder Wyatt Langford lined an RBI single, and designated hitter Kris Armstrong drove in a run with a groundout to first base.
“When out team attacks the game with confidence and aggressiveness, they can play closer to the best version of themselves,” Johnson said. “It’s about re-committing each game to do that, and if they can, they can accomplish great things.”
Have you noticed? Both , men/women, pitching staff’s get an 0+2 or o+1 count on the batter and cannot put them away. They make too good a pitch right over the plate and it is hit hard!. Must correct that!