College World Series Bracket Finals 2025 LSU vs. CCU Game 1 Score and Recap

A Saturday evening pitchers' duel brought LSU one step closer to winning their second national baseball title in three years.

Kade Anderson shut out Coastal Carolina as LSU claimed a 1-0 win in Game 1 of the Men's College World Series final in Omaha, Nebraska.

Anderson recorded 10 strikeouts in the first MCWS complete-game shutout since 2018.

Coastal Carolina's dominant pitching this season meant the Chanticleers were riding a nation-best 26-game win streak into Saturday's matchup.

But the Tigers took advantage of first-inning struggles from starter Cameron Flukey, who allowed a lead-off walk from Derek Curiel before an RBI single from Steven Milam got LSU on the board.

Coastal Carolina outfielder Sebastian Alexander tried to get some offense going by stealing third in the top of the third inning, but he was called out on the play.

LSU threatened to extend the lead by getting Milam back in scoring position in the bottom of the third before Flukey closed out the inning with a strikeout.

The pitching battle continued down the stretch. Flukey retired his batters faced in order in the fifth frame before Anderson recorded a 1-2-3 inning of his own in the top of the sixth.

LSU's Milam got back to third base in the bottom of the sixth frame, but Flukey managed to close out the inning for Coastal Carolina with a groundout.

Coastal Carolina got a leadoff runner in scoring position at the top of the seventh before Anderson forced three groundouts to keep the Chanticleers off the board.

The Chanticleers couldn't get anything going in a quick eighth inning before Anderson ended the frame with a strikeout.

Dominick Carbone came in to pitch for the Coastal Carolina in the bottom of the eighth, which the Chanticleers closed out with a double play to get one more shot at tying the game.

With one out left, Domenico Tozzi earned a walk to get a runner on base for Coastal Carolina in the top of the ninth.

But Anderson recovered to force a flyout and secure LSU's Game 1 victory.

Coastal Carolina will now need to win two straight in order to claim a second national title. The Chanticleers' only other final appearance came in 2016, when the program claimed a Game 3 win over Arizona.

LSU is meanwhile participating in the program's 20th trip to Omaha. The Tigers are hoping to become seven-time champions, and to win the title for the first time since 2023.

The Men's College World Series finals are set to resume on Sunday when Game 2 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. If necessary, the series will conclude with a winner-takes-all Game 3 on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET.