Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
LSU

Kade Anderson credits Louisiana weather for ability to throw CWS complete-game shutout

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh06/22/25griffin_mcveigh
Jay-Johnson-on-Kade-Anderson-performance-against-Arkansas-Hes-got-tremendous-stuff
© Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Heat certainly could have played a factor in Game 1 of the College World Series. You would imagine that playing in an intense temperature would affect players out there on both sides. Well, LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson was not too bothered by how it felt at Charles Schwab Field on Saturday night.

“I think that’s the real benefit of playing in Louisiana,” Anderson said of pitching in the heat. “Growing up there, this is honestly not as bad as what it was in the Super Regional. I mean, it wasn’t even comparable. Like Coach (Jay) Johnson does, he prepares you for every element. Preparation is a key to our success and it really showed today.”

Based on his stats from the two games, Anderson is not lying. He got roughed up against West Virginia in the Super Regional, giving up six earned runs on seven hits — one of Anderson’s worst performances of the season. Thankfully, the LSU offense picked up the slack and put 16 runs on the board.

Going up against Coastal Carolina brought the near opposite of results. Anderson threw a complete game shutout on 130 pitches. Head coach Jay Johnson could have pulled Anderson when a runner got on base in the bottom of the ninth but decided to stick with his guy.

Of the 18 games Anderson pitched throughout the 2025 season, 11 of those were in Baton Rouge. Now, not every single one was in a hot environment as the season began back in February. He did grow up in the Boot, though, and played his high school career in Louisiana.

“I put my team in a situation to win,” Anderson said postgame with ESPN’s Kris Budden. “A lot of credit to my defense because I didn’t have that many strikeouts. A lot of credit to them and it goes back to trust.”

This was not a situation where he cruised to the victory either. Anderson was truly needed for all nine innings as LSU only won 1-0. Had the program’s ace not been out there dealing, the result might have gone in the complete opposite direction.

Instead, the Tigers are now one win away from a national championship. Anderson is going to go down as a program legend, no matter how the next couple of days play. He went through Coastal Carolina’s pretty easily and doing so in the heat made it all the more impressive.