West Virginia knew they were going to face a tall task against LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson.
Anderson, a projected top pick in this year’s MLB Draft, got the start for the Tigers, known as one of the top pitchers in college baseball.
The Mountaineers were able to score seven runs against him, nine runs in total, as their offense is swinging with confidence heading into an elimination game on Sunday.
“I mean, he’s a really good pitcher. He throws something out of his hand that looks like a ball, and it ends up a strike. And he throws a strike out of his hand that ends up a ball. So you just kind of trust your training, try and play naturally. Working a pitch count is one thing, but if he gives you something to hit, you’re not trying to foul it off, you’re trying to hit it. So swing at strikes, take the balls,” West Virginia’s Sam White said.
While the scoreboard showed a seven-run difference between the Mountaineers and Tigers, WVU had three more hits than LSU.
“I’m proud of the guys, kept fighting throughout the entire game, put up a two-spot in the ninth, when we were trailing by a significant margin. Had 11 hits, really competed well against a high-end pitcher in Kade Anderson, one of the best in the country. I think he’s one of the top strikeout guys in the nation, and I thought our offense did a really nice job,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said.
White and Gavin Kelly each had three hits on the afternoon, while Kelly and Kyle West each homered for the Mountaineers.
“We have a talented offense, and we don’t strike out very often, and that’s what Kade Anderson has success doing. So he strikes people out. And we don’t strike out very often, and so I think the length of the at-bats allowed us to score runs,” Sabins said.
WVU’s offense had eight strikeouts, while Anderson threw seven of those. The seven runs WVU got against Anderson were the most he’s allowed all season, and it was the first time he allowed more than three runs in an outing in his last seven starts.
“I felt like our hitters stayed very focused, won a lot of pitches early, even from the very first at-bat of the game. I think Guzman had an 8-to-10 pitch at-bat. And I think that set the tone right off the bat that it’s going to be difficult to strike us out. And you’re going to have to earn everything that you get. And just over the course of the time, I think our offense wore him down. But again, he’s incredible. He went seven innings and gave up six earned in his worst outing, as you said, of the year. So he did a great job and kept them in the game and allowed for their bullpen to only use so many arms today,” Sabins said.
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