Florida gave LSU pitcher Matty Ott a rude welcome to the starting rotation.
The sophomore had allowed eight earned runs in 20 relief appearances prior to Sunday. But, facing the No. 6 Gators (31-11, 15-6 Southeastern Conference) in his first career start, Ott lasted just 3.2 innings while surrendering nine runs as Florida beat No. 15 LSU (32-13, 11-10 SEC) 13-6.
All nine Gators starters recorded a hit in the win against the defending national champions, giving UF its first sweep against LSU since 1996. Since losing to FSU on March 30, Florida has won eight of its last 10 games and trails conference leader South Carolina by one game.
“We’re going through a stretch right now where it’s a lot of fun,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “And as a coach, you just try to stay out of the way, let them have fun and let them go and continue to work hard but keep their minds focused on the task at hand.”
Florida scored 28 runs in the sweep, the most in any three-game series all year.
“It’s going to be tough to beat us if we’re swinging the bat like that,” said freshman Austin Maddox, who hit a three-run homer off Ott in the third inning.
Maddox’s blast was one of three UF home runs Sunday. Center fielder Matt den Dekker jump-started the Gators by taking Ott deep in the first inning to give Florida a 2-0 lead.
Maddox’s shot extended Florida’s lead, but pitcher Brian Johnson put the game out of reach in the fourth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Johnson pulled a pitch past the center-field fence for a grand slam – the hurler’s second home run of the season.
Earlier this year, O’Sullivan said he enjoyed watching Johnson play because the freshman does not worry about facing big names. Johnson’s approach did not change against LSU, a program that has won six national championships.
“He’s a competitor, and he loves to play the game,” O’Sullivan said. “You can tell when he hit the home run, he came around the bases smiling, having fun.”
Johnson was also effective on the mound, allowing two earned runs in six innings. He said the outing was not one of his best starts, though, as he gave up nine hits and struggled to control his fastball.
But Johnson escaped most jams unscathed and his final line was about as good as the team’s other two starters. Alex Panteliodis pitched five scoreless innings on Friday before a rain delay ended his outing, and Hudson Randall followed by allowing one run in eight innings on Saturday.
“Any time you get a chance to play the defending national champs, you got to get excited,” O’Sullivan said. “We knew we had to play our best baseball, and (it was) just one of those weekends when we put everything together.”
