Florida’s entire dugout thought Preston Tucker’s one-out shot to right was gone in three-run walk-off fashion. Unfortunately for the Gators, Daniel Pigott thought so too.
UF’s senior center fielder went into premature celebration mode while standing a handful of steps off third base. When the ball landed in the glove of LSU right fielder Mason Katz, Pigott had choked away a chance to tie the score at seven and complete a big Florida rally. He did not tag up. Brian Johnson was on deck for the game’s final at-bat, but the evening was over.
“You can’t run the bases for them,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “I’ve got no explanation for it. I’ve never seen it. … He jumped up and down and thought it was a home run and lost his cool instead of just going back to the bag.”
Euphoria boiled into frustration in a matter of seconds. Before Pigott’s gaffe and a hard-swinging strikeout by Mike Zunino, Florida had runners on first and third with no outs in the ninth inning. What fans had not been chased away by an initial 6-2 deficit were buzzing. Minutes later, they were silenced and stunned. No. 1 Florida (24-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) lost to No. 12 LSU (24-6, 7-3 SEC), 7-6 on Thursday night.
The defeat snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Gators and continued a rut in which they have lost four out of their last five games.
“We’ve got to put some pieces together,” junior left fielder Vickash Ramjit said. “We’re just struggling right now.”
Trouble started early for the Gators on Thursday. The Tigers were all over starter Brian Johnson in the first inning, racking up three runs on three hits, highlighted by RBI singles from Austin Nola and Alex Edward.
When Florida began to stand its ground a bit and climb back into the game, LSU piled up another three-run inning in the fourth despite having no baserunners and two outs when eight-hole hitter Jordy Snikeris stepped in and singled.
“It was disappointing the way we pitched,” O’Sullivan said. “That can’t happen if you expect to win games.”
Everyone seemed to have his own faults. Ramjit had the best offensive night of his career, going 3 for 4 with four RBI — two in a clutch two-out spot in the eighth that got the Gators within one. However, he also had Florida’s other glaring base-running error of the night in the fourth when he was thrown out returning to second on a Cody Dent fly ball.
“I had three hits but that didn’t do anything,” Ramjit said. “It was just upsetting how we lost. … It’s a tough loss right now.”
Pigott had been 3 for 5 with an RBI before the night’s biggest blunder. Entering the ninth 2 for 4, Johnson popped out to the catcher to end the game.
Florida will now try to move forward to Friday night’s game even though O’Sullivan was unsure of what he will get.
“I’m not playing,” he said.
Jonathon Crawford will get the start for the Gators, as Karsten Whitson’s full-blown return gets moved to Saturday. Hudson Randall will not pitch this weekend because of a “tired arm.”
Senior outfielder Daniel Pigott (8) failed to tag up from third base and score the tying run after Preston Tucker hit a fly ball to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning in No. 1 Florida’s 7-6 loss No. 12 LSU.
