2 weeks Ago By The Oklahoman
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.
”More: SEC baseball power rankings: Tiers begin to solidify after Week 7OU 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,” Johnson said.
“I thought he was good. I mean, he made two mistakes on location, giving up the double to Hernandez, that was a bad location and then earlier in a mistake on the nine-hole hitter when we're expanding the zone and the guy hits the ball down the line.“If you make two mistakes in a game like that, you're probably going to win.
I mean, he can't be perfect.”Lefty reliever James Hitt, who entered with a 3.21 ERA, was lights out in relief for OU, striking out four Tigers in three no-hit innings.
“Jamie was probably the best he's been since he's been here,” Johnson said of the senior. “He executed pitch after pitch after pitch. It was really fun to watch and be honest with you.
”More: OU baseball schedule: Dates, times, TV channels for 2025 Oklahoma SoonersIt’s hard not to appreciate what Anderson did on Thursday night. He tossed 135 pitches, 34 more than his previous career-high.Johnson recognizes good baseball.
In fact, the slate is the first weekend series featuring a top-10 matchup in Norman since 2010.The Sooners and Tigers are back at it at 6:30 p.m.
on Friday.“I mean, at the end of the day, do you ever win and lose in baseball?” Johnson said. “I mean, the game is such a difficult game at times.
And you never win it. You never lose it. It's really just about playing against the ball.
”This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU baseball falls to LSU in SEC series opener, Kade Anderson fans 14.
