Kade Anderson dreamed of winning College World Series game ‘every night’

The LSU Tigers opened with a roar in the College World Series. That was on the back of a phenomenal performance against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers from starting pitcher Kade Anderson, who threw a complete game shutout on the way to the win.

After the game, Anderson admitted that he’s dreamed of winning the College World Series every night. However, he also emphasized that the job isn’t done yet for LSU.

“Probably every night and really just putting my team in a situation to win,” Kade Anderson said. “We’ve got a loaded bullpen now. That wasn’t to end the College World Series. We’ve got one more that we’re preparing for, and we’re going to go back to the hotel and start preparing for that one as well.”

LSU coach Jay Johnson gave the ball over to Kade Anderson for the first game. Despite some control issues at times, walking five and hitting another two Chanticleers with pitches, Anderson was more than able to set the tone. He’d only allowed three hits and managed to strikeout 10 batters in the complete game shutout.

The Tigers needed all of what Anderson gave them too. Coastal Carolina put Cameron Flukey on the mound, and he only allowed one run in six innings. In relief, Dominick Carbone didn’t allow a run in two innings either. So, LSU needed every bit of Anderson’s shutout performance.

The College World Series is far from over, though. It’s a best-of-three series and all it takes is a loss to Coastal Carolina on Sunday to force a do-or-die finale on Monday.

Jay Johnson compares Kade Anderson’s season to Paul Skenes, Joe Burrow

The LSU athletic department has seen its fair share of phenomenal individual seasons. In recent years, Paul Skenes dominated for the baseball team while jumping sports to football, Joe Burrow had arguably the greatest season ever for a quarterback. So, Jay Johnson knew he was making a massive statement comparing the season that Kade Anderson is having to those two stars.

“He’s the best pitcher in college baseball. We had the best pitcher in the planet two years ago (Skenes) in a similar situation. I’ve felt like Kade’s had a very similar season to that. That’s how you get here. I’m really proud of him. The commonality between the two is the person, the character, the toughness, the team-first attitude,” Johnson said.

“And you’re probably right (about this being the last game Anderson pitches for LSU). His next pitch should be for some place in the Washington Nationals organization. It’s not close. They usually draft really well. And he’s the best player in the country. There’s nobody closer to the major leagues than that right now. But I don’t think you can quantify (Anderson’s performance). Paul Skenes, Joe Burrow. That type of deal.”