Three takeaways from LSU baseball's College World Series win vs. Arkansas
Three takeaways from LSU baseball's College World Series win vs. Arkansas
LSU baseball started its College World Series with a 4-1 win over third-seeded Arkansas on Saturday in Omaha.
With their ace Kade Anderson on the mound, the No. 6 Tigers took an early lead and didn't look back in the victory over their SEC rival. They finished with six hits in the low-scoring affair.
Zach Root made the start for the Razorbacks, but he didn't make it out of the second inning. The All-SEC first teamer surrendered just two hits but couldn't land his pitches for strikes often enough as he was charged with the loss. Gabe Gaeckle pitched six innings of relief, giving up one run and striking out 10.
In a matchup between the betting favorites to win the national championship, neither side could quite breakthrough following the Tigers' second inning outburst. They left eight runners on base but relied on their pitching staff to hold off Arkansas.
Here are three takeaways from LSU's win over Arkansas from Charles Schwab Field.
Anderson took control on the mound
With an early lead, Anderson used his elite fastball-changeup combination to keep Arkansas hitters off balance and record another quality start. Through seven innings, the left-handed pitcher allowed just three hits and seven strikeouts.
In what was expected to be a pitcher's dual against Root, Anderson got his stuff working throughout the contest. He responded after surrendering the lone run off a solo homer in the sixth by getting three strikeouts and three groundouts through the following two frames.
Anderson's outing only furthered his case to be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft.
Small ball in the second inning made the difference
LSU couldn't find power in Saturday's contest as its top three hitters went a combined 0-13. In its three-run second inning, the Tigers resorted to small ball and hit just one ball out of the infield. Chris Stanfield drove in the first run with a single to left field, then Michael Braswell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
With the bases loaded, Josh Pearson grounded a ball to shortstop to plate the third run of the frame. The Tigers kept the line moving by putting the ball in play and not overthinking their at bats against Arkansas' ace, which led him to exiting the game with two outs in the second.
Bullpen turns in strong showing
Following Anderson's exit, Chase Shores and Casan Evans held the Razorbacks off the score board to preserve the victory. Shores needed just 10 pitches to get through the frame and he touched 100 multiple times, a good sign for LSU as it advances in the College World Series field.
10 of Evans' 13 pitches were strikes in a crucial ninth inning. Despite surrendering a leadoff single, the true freshman picked up a strikeout and induced two groundouts to end the game. In the stellar outing for LSU's pitching staff, Arkansas only had three guys reach second base throughout the contest.
Evans and Shores' efficiency means they'll both be available out of the pen on Monday.
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