Anderson shuts out Coastal as Tigers move one win away

Michael Bacigalupi

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

OMAHA, Neb– The nation’s longest win streak succumbed to the nation’s best pitcher.

Kade Anderson shut out Coastal Carolina Saturday night at Charles Schwab Field to move LSU one win away for the program’s eighth national championship.

The 1-0 LSU win snapped the Chanticleers’ 26-game winning streak.

It’s not hyperbole to call what Anderson has done this season and the last four weeks legendary. At a program that requires you do it in Omaha in June for that type of label to be applied, Anderson has stared down Arkansas and Coastal Carolina and worked 16 innings allowing one run on six hits with 17 strikeouts.

LSU’s offense needed its ace, and its ace delivered.

Coastal Carolina created some traffic in the early innings.

A pair of walks put runners at first and second with two outs in the first, but Anderson got Blagen Pado swinging to strand a pair.

The top two in the Coastal order reached in the third on a hit by pitch and a single to left, one of the Chanticleers’ three hits in the game. Anderson then calmly fielded a bunt by Blake Berthol and flipped to third to get the lead runner. Walker Mitchell struck out, and Sebastian Alexander was then thrown out trying to steal third base with two outs. He beat Luis Hernandez’s throw down but overslid the bag for Michael Braswell to apply the tag.

Pado doubled to lead off the fourth. He never moved. Anderson struck out the next three hitters to ignite a massively partisan Omaha crowd clad in purple and gold.

Coastal couldn’t advance a runner to second base in the final four innings.

When Anderson needed his best stuff, he always found it. Coastal was 1-for-15 with runners on base and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They were 0-for-8 with two outs (the caught stealing was the ninth).

The defensive play of the game was made by Michael Braswell who ranged hard to his left to stab a ground ball that looked to be ticketed for left field for a one-out single in the ninth. Instead, Braswell snared it on the move and fired quickly over to first for the second out. Braswell also made a heck of a play on a bunt in the seventh that forced him to make the play crashing in and fire over the baserunner motoring down the line.

With Chase Shores and Cooper Williams warm in the LSU bullpen, Anderson got the final out on a soft fly ball to right with the tying run on first and the dangerous Caden Bodine standing in the on deck circle.

Anderson won’t throw another pitch as a Tiger. His childhood dream has been realized. He saved the best outing of his career for his most important one.

File that one away with Brett Laxton, Paul Skenes, Ty Floyd and others who have cemented their legacies in Omaha.

The Tiger offense never solved Coastal starter Cameron Flukey.

The lanky right-hander peppered the strike zone with his four pitches. He stayed ahead in counts seemingly all night long. LSU only notched four hits over his six innings of work. Steven Milam’s came when the Tigers had to have it.

After Derek Curiel led off LSU’s first inning by coaxing a walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count, he moved to second on a fielder’s choice ground ball and came around to score on Milam’s screaming line drive into centerfield.

Tigers Strike First@Monster_Milam99 | ESPN pic.twitter.com/6ZiEiT6QAd

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) June 21, 2025

Eight batters into the game, the scoring was done. It was the first 1-0 game LSU has played in NCAA tournament history.

A couple of breaks went against LSU as the Tigers tried to add an elusive insurance run.

In the sixth, Milam walked to lead off the inning. Later in the frame, a pickoff throw missed wide of first base but hit umpire Jeff Head to prevent Milam from advancing. Hernandez singled after that, but Milam wasn’t at second base to attempt to score.

In the seventh, Dickinson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, but he was called out by video review for intentionally being hit by the pitch.

He certainly did dip his elbow pad in the way of the ball. He did not move toward the strike zone, and the ball was clearly well off the plate inside. The rule was intended to prevent hitters from using the elbow armor to steal hit by pitches. This was not that.

LSU’s offense will have to be better on Sunday afternoon. One run on six hits is not enough. Flukey’s stuff was excellent, but that’s part of the drill up in Omaha.

Thankfully for the Tigers, Anderson was too good for Coastal.