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Oklahoma baseball blanked 2-0 in series opener vs. LSU

Eddie On3by:Eddie Radosevich•04/03/25
OU Baseball5
Oklahoma baseball. (OU Athletics)

Oklahoma pitcher Kyson Witherspoon was great. Kade Anderson was better. 

The Louisiana State lefty was masterful in the opener on Thursday night, striking out a career-high 14 in a complete game 2-0 shutout of Oklahoma. It’s the first complete game shutout for the Tigers since some guy named Paul Skenes did so two years ago. Not too shabby. 

For Oklahoma, it was a frustrating night offensively. Anderson worked up and down the Sooners lineup, tossing a career-high 135 pitches. 

“You’ve got to tip your hat to what (Anderson) did on the mound. He executed his plan over and over. We have to execute our plan and that’s exactly what happened. When you face a good team, in this league, or baseball period, you have got to execute your plan. The consistency happens in baseball. You have to stick to your plan. The game of baseball demands you to be consistent in everything you do,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson. 

WITHERSPOON, HITT DID THEIR JOB

As frustrating as Oklahoma’s offensive performance in the opener was, the same can’t be said of starter Kyson Witherspoon and reliever Jamie Hitt. 

They did everything they could and then some.

Witherspoon went six innings, allowing six hits and two runs, walking one and striking out four. Hitt hurled the final three innings and was excellent, retiring all eight batters he faced, striking out four. 

They gave their offense a chance. 

“I thought (Kyson) was really good. I think he made two mistakes on location giving up the double to (Luis) Hernandez that was a bad location and earlier in a mistake on the nine-hole hitter when we’re expanding the zone and the guy hits a ball down the line. If you’re going to make two mistakes like that, you’re probably not going to win. He can’t be perfect,” said Johnson. 

LSU opened the scoring in the third with a pair of two-out hits. Jared Jones drove in Derek Curiel with a two-out double to right-centerfield. 

They struck again in the fifth. 

On a night when Anderson was cooking like that. That’s all the Bayou Bengals needed. 

MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN THE FIRST

Oklahoma’s most serious scoring threat came all the way back in the first inning. It was a deflating tone setter in a way.

Easton Carmichael and Sam Christiansen each singled. Jaxon Willits walked. Setting the stage for freshmen Kyle Branch and Drew Dickerson. They both struck out. And Anderson went into the LSU dugout with momentum he’d ride the next eight innings. 

“It can go both ways. It can get him fired up and it can also be a letdown a little bit. I think he did a good job of calming himself down and making quality pitch after quality pitch after that. He really kept us off balance especially with two strikes,” said Johnson. 

Christiansen led off the sixth with a double but again it was Anderson that didn’t just shut the door on an Oklahoma rally. He slammed it right in their face. Rude, right? Striking out Jaxon Willits and the duo of Branch and Dickerson– again– to extinguish any late inning rally. 

Oklahoma managed just five hits on Thursday in the opener, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. 

NEXT UP

Oklahoma and LSU pick the series back up Friday night for game two scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start at L. Dale Mitchell Ballpark. Cade Crossland will get the ball for Oklahoma. 

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