Pitching gets LSU off to good start at CWS

When LSU began fall baseball practice, questions abounded about its pitching staff.

Gavin Guidry and Kade Anderson were the only returning pitchers for the Tigers. Guidry has missed the season with a back injury. There are no longer any worries against the pitching staff.

Thanks to Anderson and a pair of relievers, LSU started out in the proper way at the College World Series on Saturday night.

Anderson, Chase Shores and Casan Evans combined on a four-hitter as the Tigers defeated Arkansas 4-1 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

LSU will take on UCLA in the driver’s seat game of the bracket on Monday night (6 p.m CT on ESPN). Victories in their next two games will put the Tigers in the CWS best-of-three finals.

LSU used the correct formula to win in Omaha – strong pitching, excellent defense and just enough hitting. Anderson limited the Razorbacks to one run and three hits in seven-plus innings. The Hogs put one runner on base against the two Tigers relief pitchers.

Given an early 3-0 lead, Anderson never struggled against a potent Arkansas lineup. The only Razorbacks run off Anderson came on a sixth-inning leadoff homer by Reese Robinett. Anderson was lifted in favor of Shores after a single by Cam Kozeal to start the eighth.

Shores did not give the Razorbacks any hope with back-to-back strikeouts on 100 mile-per-hour fast balls and a fly out. Evans was called on to pitch the ninth. He yielded a leadoff single before setting down the No. 2, 3 and 4 batters in the Hogs batting order.

LSU was its opportunistic self on offense. The Tigers loaded the bases in the second without hitting a fair ball. Luis Hernandez and Derek Curiel walked before Daniel Dickinson beat out a bunt for a single. Those three runners would all come around to score.

Hernandez scored on a single by Chris Stanfield. Curiel scored when Michael Braswell was hit by a pitch. Dickinson scored when Josh Pearson hit into a force out. That’s how you need to play offense at Charles Schwab Field. Those three runs were enough for LSU’s pitchers.

Arkansas ace Zach Root did not finish the second inning. Give credit to the Razorbacks bullpen which allowed just one run over the remaining seven innings. In the eighth, Steven Milam doubled and scored on a single by Curiel.

The Tigers finished with only six hits with Milam the only player collecting more than one. The top three hitters in the LSU lineup – Pearson, Ethan Frey and Jared Jones – were a combined 0-for-13. However, every other Tigers starter had a hit or drove in a run.

It has been no secret that LSU’s chances of winning the CWS depend upon the work of their two premier starters. Anderson did his job in Saturday’s game against Arkansas. It will be up to Anthony Eyanson to duplicate those results in two nights against UCLA.


LSU STARTERS

Josh Pearson: 0-for-4, 1 RBI

Ethan Frey: 0-for-4

Jared Jones: 0-for-5

Steven Milam: 2-for-4, 1 run scored

Luis Hernandez: 1-for-3, 1 run scored

Derek Curiel: 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 run scored

Daniel Dickinson: 1-for-4, 1 run scored

Chris Stanfield: 1-for-4, 1 RBI

Michael Braswell: 0-for-3, 1 RBI


LSU PITCHERS

Kade Anderson: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Chase Shores: 1 IP, 2 K

Casan Evans: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K

LSU 2025 CWS Crossbats Tee
from: Alumni Hall

LSU 2025 CWS Geauxmaha Trucker Hat
from: Alumni Hall