LSU baseball notched its third SEC sweep of the year as the Tigers traveled to Oklahoma.
LSU started the series with a win on Thursday night, stifling the Sooners lineup in a 2-0 victory. Kade Anderson threw nine shutout innings and struck out 14 Sooners, bouncing back from his inconsistent outing the weekend prior.
On Friday, LSU's offense came to life and tagged OU pitching for double-digit runs and reliever Casan Evans finished the game with a three-inning save.
On Saturday, Chase Shores turned in his best SEC start of the year. He allowed one run over five innings of work. That was needed after Shores allowed a combined 12 earned runs in his previous three outings. Zac Cowan sealed the deal, continuing his stretch of dominant relief outings.
Going on the road to take a series from a top-10 SEC team is the best mark on LSU's 2025 resume. The Tigers needed it after dropping a series at Texas last month.
LSU turns its attention to Auburn this weekend after a midweek meeting with Nicholls. Before we move on, here are five takeaways from LSU's sweep of Oklahoma.
Kade Anderson turns in career performance on Thursday night
We knew we were in for a pitcher's duel on Thursday night, with LSU's Kade Anderson squaring off vs. Oklahoma's Kyson Witherspoon. Both are MLB Draft prospects with elite stuff.
Witherspoon delivered a quality start, but Anderson was even better. The LSU ace had a career night, going the distance for a complete game shutout. Prior to Thursday, Anderson's career high in innings was six. The outing in Norman solidified Anderson's status as a true ace.
Anderson struck out 14 hitters. He walked two and allowed just one extra-base hit.
The shutout came one week after Anderson's worst outing of the year. Mississippi State tagged the ace for five earned runs last Thursday, but Anderson responded. Anderson is well on his way to being a first-round pick in the MLB Draft.
Chase Shores settles in on Saturday
LSU starter Chase Shores entered the year with high hopes after missing all of 2024 with an injury. The big righty was a premier prospect when he signed with LSU out of high school and flashed elite stuff when he got the chance in 2023.
But Shores' return hasn't been smooth sailing. His first few SEC outings were rough, but he started to settle in on Saturday.
Shores had his best outing since his Feb. 22 performance vs. Omaha. He pitched five innings, held the Sooners to three hits, and didn't allow an earned run. LSU doesn't need Shores to be special in that No. 3 spot, but the Tigers need him to hold it down long enough until the ball can be passed to Cowan or Evans.
The upside with Shores is still there. At his best, he's a swing-and-miss pitcher. But Shores' success vs. Oklahoma wasn't due to overpowering stuff -- he only struck out four. Shores managed to avoid the big mistake and that was enough to get LSU the win.
Cowan and Evans are elite out of the bullpen
In 29.1 innings, Zac Cowan has a 0.92 ERA. That's the second-best mark in the SEC among pitchers with 20+ innings. The Wofford transfer is proving to ...
