LSU and Arkansas entered the College World Series in Omaha as the lone representatives from the SEC this season. It’s a stark contrast from last summer’s CWS, and the opening round of games featured the two sides facing off.
On Saturday, that game was played with one SEC guaranteed to reach the winner’s bracket, with the other headed to an elimination game. A pair of top-10 seeds, the matchup did not disappoint.
The game was expected to be a bit of a pitcher’s duel between southpaws with LSU starting Kade Anderson and Arkansas turning to Zach Root. The game ultimately developed into that low-scoring affair, though Root was not involved for very long.
In the top of the 2nd inning, LSU saw 5 straight batters reach base against Root, including 2 walks and a hit batter. The Tigers would score 3 runs in that span, forcing Dave Van Horn to get Root after just 1.2 innings pitched. It was Root’s shortest outing of the season and ties the shortest of his career.
The good news for Arkansas is that the Razorbacks turned to Gabe Gaeckle out of the bullpen, and he was able to stabilize things instantly. Gaeckle would go on to cover 6 sharp innings out of the bullpen, yielding just 1 earned run while striking out 10 of the 22 total batters he faced. That performance was needed to keep things close and give the Arkansas bats a chance to come alive.
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Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, LSU’s ace was brilliant. Anderson started and went 7 strong innings, yielding just 1 run on a solo blast by Reese Robinett in the 6th inning. Outside of that mistake, Anderson was flawless, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7.
Great night for Kade ?#MCWS x ? ESPN / @LSUbaseball pic.twitter.com/rM2dz4dUQs
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 15, 2025LSU would give Anderson a chance to start the 8th inning, but he was quickly pulled after a leadoff hit by Cam Kozeal. That hit led Jay Johnson to bring in Chase Shores out of the bullpen, and Shores was brilliant. He struck out the first 2 batters he faced before getting a flyout to end the threat and keep LSU’s lead at 4-1 heading to the 9th inning.
Arkansas would mount one final threat in the bottom of the 9th with a leadoff single by Charles Davalan. Casan Evans was up to the task, though, slamming the door shut with a key strikeout of Wehiwa Aloy and a pair of groundouts.
Offensively, LSU was led by Steven Milam, who had 2 hits, including a double and a run scored. Derek Curiel, Chris Stanfield, Michael Braswell III and Josh Pearson all added an RBI for the Tigers.
For Arkansas, it was a rough night for the bats as the team went 4-for-29 with 10 strikeouts. LSU actually struck out more times in this one (16, in fact), but the Tigers were able to find the clutch hits that the Razorbacks could not.
Both teams came into Omaha with the best odds to win the College World Series, but it will likely be LSU taking the pole position heading into Sunday’s games. With the win, LSU will face UCLA on Monday night. Arkansas, after losing the opener, will face an elimination game against Murray State on Monday afternoon.
LSU rides masterful Kade Anderson to CWS win over Arkansas Saturday Down South.
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