LSU's Kade Anderson threw the Tigers first complete-game shutout in the CWS since 1993. / Special to the American Press / Mitchell Scaglione

CWS FINALS GAME 1 —LSU 1, Coastal Carolina 0

GAME 2 — Sunday, 1:30 (ABC)

 

By Scooter Hobbs

American Press

OMAHA, Neb. — LSU broke the nation’s longest winning streak Saturday night.

Now the Tigers are just one win away from their eighth national championship.

They might need more than one run to finish the job but …

Lefthander Kade Anderson threw a complete-game shutout and the Tigers nursed home the only run of the game for eight innings to take a 1-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in the opening game of the College World Series championship round.

“Everybody got to see what we’ve seen and known for an entire season,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said after Anderson allowed just three hits and struck out 10 against the pesky Chanticleers, who had won 26 in a row coming and hadn’t lost since April 22. “That’s been on the regular.

“Good all-around effort by our team. We’ll get ready to go for tomorrow.”

It could be more the same Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (ABC) as Coastal Carolina will pitch first-team All-American Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08) against the Tigers’ co-ace Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.92).

“Any two-out-of-three, they’re not over until you win two and there’s not anybody in that locker room that doesn’t understand that,” Johnson said.

“But we have a different way of looking at things. Caution is not really a word this group would really use.”

LSU got its only run in the first inning, scratching out the eventual  game-winner early with antics the small-ball specialists from Coastal would appreciate.

Derek Curiel had an 0-2 count before working a walk out of it and reached second on Ethan Frey’s chopping ground out. Steven Milam then faced a 1-2 count before slapping an RBI single up the middle.

And that was it for scoring as Anderson locked up in a duel with Coastal’s Cameron Flukey, who allowed just the one run and four of LSU’s six hits in his six innings of work.

“Hats off to him,” Johnson said of Flukey. “He was better than his reputation and his reputation was really good.”

Anderson was just a hair better.

“We just weren’t able to get that big hit,” Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall said. “Tip your hat to him. There’s a reason he’s so successful. He has multiple pitches he can go to at any time … He made critical pitches when he needed to.”

Yet with just three hits, Coastal had some chances as Anderson issued a season-high five walks dealing with a tight strike zone and hit two others.

“They do a great job of finding their way on base,” Johnson said. “And they did a few times tonight.”

But Anderson held the Chanticleers to 1-for-15 with runners on base, 0-for-9 with them in scoring position.

“We just weren’t able to get the big hit,” Schnall said.

Johnson went to the mound for a chat in the third inning after Coastal put its first two runners on.

“I just went to say a little something to him and he’s like, ‘I’ll settle down.’ I was, like, nobody knows that better than me.”

Anderson’s glove work thwarted a bunt attempt when he got the lead runner at third, then got a strike out and a caught stealing.

There was more noise in the fourth with Blage Pado’s leadoff double for the Chants.

No problem — Anderson struck out the next three, one of the five Coastal innings that ended with a strike outs.

“He’s the best pitcher in college baseball,” Johnson said. “I mean, we had the best pitcher on the planet two years ago (Paul Skenes) in a similar situation. I felt like Kade’s had a very similar season.”

Schnall didn’t seem overly concerned.

“We’d won 26 in a row,” he said. “Let’s just call it is what it is:  the odds were not in our favor to go 28-0 and win this national championship.”

In fact, he said, it was “eerily similar” to 2016 when he was an assistant coach on the Chants national championship team in its only other Omaha appearance.

“We lost Game 1, 3-0, a left-handed pitcher threw a complete-game shutout.”

They took the next two to beat Arizona that year — then coached by Johnson.

“Again, we’ve got to respond, rebound, regroup,” Schnall said. “We’re in a good space, we’re in a good place We lost to a really good team today, to a really good pitcher.”

NOTEBOOK

REALLY? It was 97 degrees when pregame player introductions were made. If that wasn’t hot enough, when each player was introduced, he ran from the dugout to the baseline between two posts that had a giant blow-torch flame blasting upward.

WIND TUNNEL: LSU is used to the heat and all agreed that with just 44 percent humidity it was nothing like the Baton Rouge super regional games against West Virginia.

“It wasn’t even comparable, honestly,” said Kade Anderson threw 130 pitched in a complete-game shutout.

But the howling winds, which were steady in the high 20s and gusted into the 40s were a concern, Johnson said.

There were no plays obviously affected by it, but it was on Johnson’s mind.

“I would say aware (more than concerned),” he said. “I think when we showed up for BP, it was obviously going to play into the game. It was odd. It switched directions during batting practice … a swirling wind.

“It’s just part of the deal. Sounds like It’s going to be part of the deal tomorrow as well.”

GLOVE WORK: LSU third baseman Michael Braswell was 0-for 3 and his season average dropped to .185, but he showed Saturday why he’s the lineup.

He had four assists, none of them routine in a tight game, and also made alert play to tag Sebastian Alexander who over-slid the bag on a steal attempt.

“His defense  was a difference maker in the game tonight,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of ways to impact your team’s ability to win the game.

“You give them (Coastal) an inch they’ll take a mile. His defense stopped some potential momentum for them.”

SMALL BALL, BIG DEFENSE: LSU had early answers to Coastal’s small-ball antics. In the third inning the Chants had runners on first and second with no outs, but in a bunt attempt pitcher Kade Anderson was able to throw out the lead runner at third. Moments later, Alexander looked to have stolen third, but slid over the bag and was tagged out.

BAD LUCK: Nobody’s fault, but the umpires did cost LSU a run in the sixth inning. Steven Millam was on first when a pick-off throw was wild past first baseman Colby Thorndyke. But the errant throw hit first umpire Jeff Head (who was trying to get out of the way), preventing Milam from taking second. Next batter Luis Hernandez singled to left center, which would easily scored Milam.

BAD CALL: The most controversial call came when Daniel Dickinson was awarded first base when hit on a 3-2 pitch — but after review it was ruled that he intentionally let the ball hit him.

Thus, by rule, it didn’t matter that it would have been ball four — it’s ruled a strike, strike three in this case.

“The ball was clearly in the batter’s box. I’m not sure what he was supposed to do,” Johnson said. “It’s a tough rule where you’re rewarding the pitcher for throwing a ball in (the batter’s box). I thought he did make an attempt to roll out.”

Johnson said he might have argued more but it’s understood — similar to arguing balls and strikes – that coaches aren’t supposed to go back out after umpires after video reviews.

BLANKING: Anderson’s performance was LSU’s first complete game shutout since Brett Laxton did it in the 1993 national championship game.

STREAK BUSTER: Breaking the Chants 26-game winning streak, the Tigers have now broken the two longest win streaks in CWS history. They also broke Oregon State’s 23-game run in 2017.

PLATOON: Sulphur’s Jake Brown was back in the starting lineup Saturday for the second time in LSU’s four games. He pinch-hit in the two Arkansas games.

Brown went 1-for-4 and is now 5-for-10 in the CWS.

 

SUNDAY’S MATCHUP

 

	PITCHER	W-L	ERA	IP	SO	bb	OBA
LSU	RH Anthony Eyanson	11-2	2.92	101.2	143	35	0.215
Coastal	RH Jacob Morrison	12-0	2.08	104	102	22	0.194