NORMAN — Sometimes you just have to tip your hat.
LSU’s Kade Anderson pitched a gem Thursday on a cold, wet night at L. Dale Mitchell Park, striking out 14 OU hitters in nine shutout innings. It was the Tigers' first complete game since during Paul Skenes’ dominant 2023 College World Series run and the first shutout against the Sooners by one pitcher since Kansas State’s Nate Griep in 2015.
“(Anderson) pitched really well,” OU coach Skip Johnson said afterward. “He executed his plan over and over. We got in moments in the game like in the first inning, we’ve got to execute our plan.”
The Sooners threatened Anderson early, loading the bases in the first inning with one out before Kyle Branch and Drew Dickerson struck out, and again in the third inning with two base runners and two outs, until Branch was sat down on strikes for the second time. Tenth-ranked Oklahoma’s offense was shut down from that point on as it fell to No. 7 LSU 2-0 in the first of a three-game series.
Sam Christiansen led the way, finishing 2 for 3 with a double but the Sooners’ offense isn’t the same without junior Trey Gambill, who leads the Sooners with a .377 batting average and missed his second consecutive contest after tweaking his hamstring injury last weekend against Alabama. Johnson is confident he could return to the lineup on Friday.
“He’s not 100% but pretty close,” Johnson said. “He was a little bit better today and I’m looking forward to seeing if he can get in the lineup tomorrow.”
OU failed to support its ace, right-handed starter Kyson Witherspoon, who allowed two earned runs and six hits in six innings. LSU took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Jared Jones smacked a two-out single, scoring Derek Curiel. The Tigers added a run in the fifth when Chris Stanfield doubled down the right field line to score Luis Hernandez.
Witherspoon was added to the 2025 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on Thursday and entered the contest with a 64-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while ranking fifth nationally and second in the SEC with 64 strikeouts. Johnson was pleased overall with Witherspoon’s performance against the top hitting team in the SEC but thought he made two costly mistakes.
“He was really good after one day off of full rest,” ...
