Kade Anderson Leads LSU to Game 1 Win in College World Series

The stage is officially set for the College World Series as Coastal Carolina and LSU faced off in borderline triple-digit heat and howling winds for game one. 

Coastal Carolina rolled with sophomore right-handed pitcher Cameron Flukey as the game one starter, who has been an anchor for the Chants’ pitching staff, throwing to a 3.29 ERA over 95 ⅔ innings with 109 strikeouts to just 22 walks. 

Flukey has made huge strides from his freshman season and is quickly becoming one of the premier arms in the 2026 MLB Draft Class with a power fastball in the mid-90s paired with great secondaries. 

LSU elected to start their ace, Kade Anderson, who has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the 2025 season. Racking up a nation leading 170 strikeouts over 110 innings, going 11-1 in his 18 starts with a 3.44 ERA.

Kade Anderson came out of the gates shaky, walking two in the first but working his way out of a jam with no damage done. From the jump, Coastal did what they do best, work counts and put together quality at-bats, making Anderson throw 25 pitches in the first, including drawing a mound visit.

Cameron Flukey would come out of the gates hot, sitting 97-98 with his fastball, but walked two. Steven Milam delivered an RBI single to score the leadoff walk issued to Derek Curiel as the Tigers would draw first blood jumping to a 1-0 lead after the first.

Coastal would get two runners on with no outs in the third, when a failed sac bunt attempt from Blake Barthol as Kade Anderson made a fantastic play to cut down the lead runner Caden Bodine at third. Sebastian Alexander would then get cut down trying to steal third as he overslid the base, and LSU escaped the Coastal small-ball attack unscathed.

A leadoff double from Blagen Pado in the fourth would be stranded by three strikeouts by Kade Anderson, who had settled in and lowered the pitches through four and started showing his dominant stuff holding the pesky Chants at bay.

It’s obvious who the difference maker in game one was, Kade Anderson showed every reason why he is the #7 ranked prospect in the Just Baseball Top 300 prospects for the 2025 MLB Draft, throwing a complete game shutout, racking up 10 strikeouts with only four hits allowed. 

Despite giving up seven free bases between hit by pitches and walks, Anderson worked around traffic on the bases all night long, “He’s the best pitcher in college baseball… the character, the toughness, the team-first attitude and his next pitch should probably be some place in the Washington Nationals organization and it’s not close.” Head Coach Jay Johnson had to say regarding Anderson’s performance.

The lone run driven in by Steven Milam who was 2-for-3 with a double and the RBI single in the first that held up the length of the game after putting up fantastic at bats against Cameron Flukey.

While there were a handful of mistakes from Coastal that we’re not used to seeing, the pitchers duel we witnessed was unbelievable, with Cameron Flukey going toe-to-toe with one of the best in the country with six innings pitched, nine strikeouts, four hits, and just one earned run, coming in the first inning.

While the Chants went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, Kevin Schnall remained optimistic about his team’s ability to bounce back after the 26-game win streak was snapped, and now, with their season on the line, Jacob Morrison will take the ball in game two.

This series is far from over, and with the chances the Chants had in game one to push runs across and create traffic on the bases that the Tigers stopped, it’s easy to see this going three games. 

We will be in for another pitchers’ duel tomorrow, and I anticipate another low-scoring war between two of the top teams in the country as LSU will look to secure its second National Championship in three years.