LSU blanks Purdue Fort Wayne on Opening Day, 14-0

BATON ROUGE, La. – Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson fired five shutout innings Friday, and second-ranked LSU bolted to a 5-0 first-inning lead on the way to a 14-0 season-opening win over Purdue Fort Wayne in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

LSU improved to 1-0 on the 2025 season, while Purdue Fort Wayne dropped to 0-1.

The teams will meet in Game 2 of the series at 11 a.m. CT Saturday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.

Anderson (1-0) limited the Mastodons to just four singles over five innings, recording one walk and eight strikeouts with 83 total pitches.

Purdue Fort Wayne starting pitcher Dillon Fischer (0-1) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered eight runs – five earned – on eight hits in 4.0 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

“Kade performed exactly as you would want your Friday night starter to pitch,” said fourth-year LSU coach Jay Johnson, who coached his 200^th game with the Tigers. “He threw strikes and executed his pitches, and we were able to keep his pitch load  at a manageable level.”

Relievers Kasan Evans, Jacob Mayers and Cooper Williams blanked the Mastodons over the final four innings, allowing no hits with nine strikeouts. The Tigers’ total of 17 strikeouts pitched represented the most by an LSU staff since at least 1977.

LSU second baseman Daniel Dickinson paced the Tigers’ 14-hit attack by going 3-for-4 at the plate with one double and five RBI. His two-run single in the first inning was the highlight of LSU’s five-run outburst.

The five-run uprising was the largest for LSU in the first inning of a season opener since 2012, when the Tigers scored five runs in the opening frame against Air Force.

The Tigers collected five doubles in Friday’s contest, one each by Dickinson, third baseman Michael Braswell III, designated hitter Josh Pearson, first baseman Jared Jones and pinch hitter/third baseman John Pearson.

Jones and Josh Pearson each contributed two RBI, and centerfielder Chris Stanfield tripled and scored twice.

“I was very pleased with the effort and energy of our team today,” Johnson said. “They have put in a tremendous amount of work in order to get ready for this season, and it was evident today. We showed a lot of aggressiveness on the bases with a two-base-at-a-time mentality, and we advanced on a ball in the dirt three times. Our athleticism gives us the chance to be a more complete team this season.”

*LSU press release

Jay Johnson on his decision with the pitching rotation on Wednesday…

“With the whole thing, I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible in a new process with so many new players,” Johnson said. “I didn’t scratch out a lot of scenarios until we’ve seen a full body of work. I made the decision with Kade about two weeks ago. The decision with Anthony was about a week ago. Then Chase was this week. I wanted to see how the whole thing came together. It’s a unique scenario with a double mid week right off the bat as well, so I’m trying to set us up to be successful each game, while taking them one at a time.”