GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
“Oh, no,” the rest of Omaha may have just cried.
Because it feels like Geaux Time at the College World Series.
KADE ANDERSON: “WE’RE MEANT FOR THESE KINDS OF GAMES”
LSU is 1-0 after a 4-1 win over CWS highest No. 3 seed Arkansas on Saturday night in front of 25,464 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. And the No. 6 seed Tigers have won all seven of their national championships from 1991-2023 after winning the first game. The only times over that span that they didn’t win it all after winning the CWS opener were in 1998 and in 2017, and they reached the championship series in the latter.
The Tigers (49-15) advance to a 6 p.m. game Monday against No. 15 seed UCLA (48-16), which beat Cinderella Murray State (44-16), 6-4, on Saturday afternoon. Arkansas (48-14) lost for the first time since the Southeastern Conference Tournament, seeing its five-game winning streak in NCAA postseason end, and will play Murray State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Monday on ESPN.
LSU and Arkansas were the highest two seeds of a CWS since seeding began in the NCAA postseason in 1999 to meet in an opening round game of the CWS. None of the other top eight national seeds made it.
And LSU almost immediately knocked Arkansas ace Zach Root – a left-hander by the way – out of the game in the top of the second inning and took a 3-0 lead on two hits and two walks. LSU has struggled this season against lefties, but after one out, Root walked Luis Hernandez and Derek Curiel back-to-back before Daniel Dickinson’s perfect bunt toward third base loaded the bases.
Tony Gwynn would’ve been proud of that “piece of hitting” by Chris Stanfield on RBI single for 1-0 lead over Arkansas in the 2nd at Omaha. And later LSU goes up 3-0.https://t.co/bFev6v4jzT
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 14, 2025
Then Chris Stanfield, the inaugural Tony Gwynn Community Service Award winner just last week, placed one perfectly in Gwynn style to left field for an RBI single and 1-0 lead.
A rattled Root then hit Michael Braswell III with the bases still loaded, and it was 2-0. Josh Pearson’s ground out scored another run for a 3-0 lead, and right-hander Gabe Gaeckle relieved Root after 24 pitches in the inning and 38 for the game. Gaeckle got right-hander Ethan Frey out to end the inning, but enough damage had been done.
Will LSU baseball recruiting coordinator Josh Jordan win a national championship with one foot on the way to Duke? It’s happened before to an LSU coordinator:https://t.co/BTnbBISNvG
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 14, 2025
Plenty enough for LSU ace left-hander Kade Anderson, who looked every bit like a projected top one, two or three pick of the Major League Baseball Draft next month. The sophomore from Madisonville limited the Razorbacks to one run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings through 100 pitches for the win to go to 11-1.
“Zach walked a couple of guys. He just didn’t seem comfortable,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said on ESPN during an in-game interview. “Just didn’t have a good feeling about it. We just felt like the game was on the line right there. You can win a game or lose a game as early as the second inning.”
They lost it in the second inning.
Arkansas cut it to 3-1 in the sixth off Anderson on a home run by Reese Robinette, but that was it.
LSU made it 4-1 in the eighth when Steven Milam doubled, and Curiel singled him in.
The Hogs did not bat with a runner in scoring position until the eighth when Cam Kozeal singled to lead off the inning and chased Anderson. Chase Shores relieved and wild pitched Kozeal to second, but Shores struck out the next two and got a fly out to center to end the inning.
Freshman sensation Casan Evans came on to pitch the ninth for LSU, allowing a lead-off single to Charles Davalan, but he struck out Wehiwa Aloy and got two groundouts to end it and earn his seventh save.
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