(Photo Credit: @LSUbaseball on X)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
LSU needed its ace Friday night. Kade Anderson delivered.
The sophomore southpaw hurled 6.2 innings of one-run baseball to allow his offense to go to work. Jared Jones and the lineup eventually came through, and LSU beat South Carolina, 8-1, to even the series in Columbia.
Thursday night was a tough one to say the very least. Anderson made sure South Carolina never really got any momentum on Friday. A KJ Scobey leadoff double in the third followed by a flare RBI single by Gavin Braland was all the Gamecocks could scratch on the night.
Anderson only allowed two other hits and punched out nine using his trademark sharp breaking ball to stymie South Carolina’s bats.
Jones and Ethan Frey belted homers in the Tiger third to spot LSU (41-13, 18-11) a three-run lead. Jones’s titanic two-run blast into the trees beyond the centerfield fence in the eighth made it 7-1 Tigers and removed the drama.
Casan Evans got a ground ball to escape the South Carolina seventh after Anderson had issued a pair of walks. The freshman right hander worked the eighth as well and gave way to Grant Fontenot for a clean ninth.
Evans threw 27 pitches and could be available on Sunday though he has not worked on consecutive days this season.
That’s the type of effort LSU needed all around. Anderson and Evans were great. The longball showed up against a bad pitching staff. The Tigers were error-free and turned a tidy double play in the eighth. Josh Pearson got a squeeze bunt down to score a run in the fifth, and Michael Braswell did the same in the ninth. That scored Jake Brown who came off the bench with a big swing for the second straight night.
Jones, Daniel Dickinson and Frey combined to go 8-for-11 with 3 homers, four walks, five RBI and six runs scored.
It wasn’t the flashiest outburst, but it was a slow, steady offense paired with stingy pitching. The series and perhaps LSU’s postseason fate are on the line Saturday in game three.
THE SCORECARD
Kade Anderson’s line: 6.2IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 9K, 106 pitches, 66 strikes
Jared Jones: 3-for-3, 2HR, 3RBI, 2BB, 3R
- Jones’s first home run passed Dylan Crews to tie for third all-time, and his second (No. 60) passed Trey McClure for third all-time in LSU history. He will not catch Brad Cresse (78) or Eddy Furniss (80) four-year players. Tremendous accomplishment from an all-time great power hitter.
Daniel Dickinson: 2-for-3, 2R, 2BB
Ethan Frey: 3-for-5, HR, 2RBI
South Carolina was 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position.
South Carolina was 2-for-11 (.182) with runners on.
LSU walked nine times and was hit by one pitch while only striking out four times.
LSU played error-free baseball.
WHAT’S NEXT
The series and SEC regular season wrap up tomorrow with a 2:00 central time first pitch. LSU will send out white-hot Anthony Eyanson. Behind him will be a number of bullpen options thanks to Anderson’s work on Friday. Mavrick Rizy, Jacob Mayers, Cooper Williams, DJ Primeaux, Connor Benge and William Schmidt have not thrown the weekend. Zac Cowan and Evans could be available as well.
South Carolina has not named a starting pitcher.
