Kade Anderson goes the distance in final LSU start, Tigers a win away from eighth title

Kade Anderson (CBC photo by Reggie Wortman)

By Andrew Riedell

OMAHA, NE-- Arriving at the Charles Schwab ballpark Saturday afternoon, temperatures were sitting at 100 degrees, and the wind was all over the place, gusting during the game to 35 MPH. Yet, balls were not flying out of the ballpark.

The pitching matchup for Game 1 of the Men's College World Series Finals was Cameron Flukey for Coastal Carolina going against Kade Anderson of LSU. Anderson led the country in strikeouts with 170 before his outing. Flukey was making his second appearance in Omaha, having thrown in game one vs Arizona last Friday, when he went four innings and allowed two hits, two runs, and struck out three Wildcat hitters.

Anderson also threw prior, Saturday vs Arkansas, going seven innings, allowing one earned run and striking out seven Razorback hitters. Both teams swept their bracket, but none of that mattered once the Finals began with both teams still needing two more wins for a national championship.

Anderson was the story again, putting his team one win away from their eighth national championship. In what was likely his last outing in an LSU uniform, his final line was a complete-game nine innings, three hits, and no runs. He did not have his best stuff, walking five Coastal hitters and hitting Caden Bodine twice, but he still managed to strike out 10 and work his way out of trouble while dominating the Chanticleer lineup.

On the biggest stage of college baseball, Anderson showed why people are talking about his possibly being the #1 overall pick in next month's MLB Draft. Flukey got the loss for Coastal, the sophomore going six innings, allowing four hits, striking out nine, and surrendering the one and only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning.

Offensively, both teams struggled to score runs. LSU probably hit the ball harder than Coastal, but both teams played each other perfectly shift-wise, outside of one or two hits.

LSU got the deciding score in the top of the first inning when Derek Curiel walked and moved up on Ethan Frey's ground ball. Steven Milam knocked in Curiel on an RBI single up the middle. Coastal went 1-15 with runners on base, 0-9 with runners in scoring position. On the other hand, LSU collected six hits against CCU pitching, Milam leading the way with two hits, a double to go with the run-producing hit.

Obviously, LSU does not get the trophy after winning just one game, and many teams have won the first game only to lose the next two. The Tigers will have to hit the reset button on Sunday afternoon against one of the best pitchers in the country. Jacob Morrison is 12-0 with a 2.08 ERA and has been vocal he does not admire anything about his opponent.

LSU will turn to their second stalwart, Anthony Eyanson, who threw only about 50 pitches in his first Omaha start against UCLA and is looking to bounce back after a down outing. The key question many have is whether Jay Johnson will be able to close out the series vs Coastal, avenging not only Coastal's 2016 Super Regional win over LSU but his personal Omaha setback that same season, as the Arizona head coach in the Finals series, when Coastal won the national championship. We'll find out Sunday, maybe Monday.

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