Payback time

• By CARL DUBOIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 31, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before Sunday, the Florida Gators appeared to own LSU pitcher Jared Bradford. Perhaps they were just renting.

Bradford pitched LSU’s first complete game this season, defeating Florida 6-3 to end the Tigers’ five-game road losing streak and heal old and fresh scars from the Gators’ jaws.

“Any time there’s a ballgame, you want to give everything you’ve got,” Bradford said, “but after that Friday night against them last year and coming off Friday night this year, it just seemed like I owed them.”

Florida struck Bradford for a five-run first inning, complete with grand slam, and a three-run second inning with another home run in its 19-3 blowout May 11, 2007.

In another series opener Friday, Bradford lost in relief, facing five batters and giving up five hits and five runs — including a three-run homer — on 13 pitches.

He gave up three solo home runs and six other hits Sunday, but LSU’s defense and Bradford’s pitching helped minimize the damage.

“Those guys battle,” Bradford said of the Gators. “I think they fought me well. I think their approach to hitting off me was good.

“I just wanted to win. I didn’t care if it was 14-13, as long as we win. That’s all that matters.”

LSU (16-10) is 3-6 in the SEC after its first road victory of the season. Florida (20-7) leads the league with a 7-2 record.

Matt Clark, LSU’s designated hitter Sunday, hit two home runs to raise his team-leading total to 13.

The only run of the game that didn’t come on a home run came in the ninth inning when D.J. LeMahieu singled and scored on Schimpf’s double.

“That was a big run,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Schimpf had a chance to drive in a run earlier and struck out (in the seventh inning), so that was good redemption for him. I just thought it was an enormous run for us.”

Mainieri appeared to be putting his faith in Bradford. He didn’t order any relief pitchers to warm up until Paul Bertuccini and Daniel Bradshaw threw in the bullpen in the eighth inning and were ready to go in the ninth.

“The only way I was going to take Bradford out was if the pitch count got extremely high in the ninth inning,” Mainieri said, “or the game had gotten tied. Then I probably would have gone to those guys.

“Jared only had about 100 pitches going into the ninth inning there, so it would have had to be an extremely long ninth inning for me to take him out.”

The boxscore listed Bradford’s total as 121 pitches, 80 for strikes or contact.

“I didn’t know what my pitch count was,” Bradford said. “I didn’t want to know. Every time I came back into the dugout from about the sixth or seventh inning on, I kept looking out there to see if anybody was warming up, and they weren’t.

“I was just trying to go batter to batter at that point. The whole point was to finish each batter and then go from there.”

Bradford (5-3) said he wasn’t worried about his arm.

“I only threw 13 pitches Friday night,” he said, “and the way I throw — I didn’t throw a lot of breaking stuff — so there’s not a lot of stress on my elbow.

“You throw a lot of changeups, sinker balls and fastballs, it seems to be a little lighter on your arm.”

Mainieri said he would have put Bradford back on the mound in relief Saturday if LSU had a lead, but it never did in the 7-1 loss.

“What I do, if you haven’t figured this out yet, is I find kids that I believe in, and I stick with them until the end of time,” Mainieri said, “and Bradford’s the kind of kid that it’s easy to believe in him.”

Derek Helenihi had another solid game at third base. Landry made an error but made diving catches in left-center field to end the eighth and ninth innings.

With Clark at DH, Buzzy Haydel got his first start of the season, playing first base.

“The double play he turned in the seventh inning was a key play in the game,” Mainieri said, noting a 3-6-3 play that ended the inning.

“If that ball gets by him, all of a sudden we’re looking at runners on second and third.”

NEXT: at Southern, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Lee-Hines Field.

NEXT HOME GAME: vs. Centenary, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

WHO: LSU Tigers (16-10) vs. Southern Jaguars (10-10).

WHERE: Lee-Hines Field, Southern.

WHEN: 6 p.m. Tuesday.

RANKINGS: Both teams unranked.

RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1.

TV: KPBN, Cox cable channel 113.

INTERNET: LSUsports.net; gojagsports.cstv.com.

BLOG: 2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/baseballblog.

NOTES: LSU will play Centenary at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Alex Box Stadium, then begin a three-game SEC series Friday against Alabama at the Box. … Bradford’s complete game was LSU’s first since he threw one in a 4-2 victory against Tennessee on April 28, 2007. … Clark nearly had a third home run Sunday, but his fourth-inning shot was caught by Jonathan Pigott at the orange line atop the right-field wall. … LSU left fielder Blake Dean made a diving catch near the line in the fourth inning, and freshman catcher Micah Gibbs threw out Jon Townsend on a bunt attempt. Florida fans booed the umpire’s call of out, thinking Townsend beat the throw to first.