Madisonville’s Kade Anderson will get to live out that dream on Friday when the Tigers open the 2025 campaign by hosting Purdue Fort Wayne.
Anderson says it means a lot to have the opportunity to be LSU’s Friday night starter.
“Overall, with this team, we probably have five Friday night starters, so it’s obviously an honor to get the ball first, but definitely got to continue to work as the season goes on, because my spot is not guaranteed every week so continuing to build on my starts and continue from there,” Anderson said.
Anderson was a three-time All-State performer at St. Paul’s High School. During his career for the Saints, he went 28-1 and 0.22 ERA.
He had a decent freshman campaign at LSU, making 18 appearances, nine starts, and finished with a 4-2 record and a 3.99 ERA, Anderson had 59 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. The southpaw was used a lot as a midweek starter.
Since his arrival on LSU’s campus, he’s added nearly 25 pounds and throwing harder this season.
The lefty is also working on incorporating a slider to his arsenal.
“I had some ups and downs last year and that helped, I think learning from those situations, ultimately picking up the slider has been a big help, just continuing pounding the mitt and get in the zone a lot more often,” Anderson said.
Coach Jay Johnson also revealed the other two starters this weekend. UC San Diego transfer Anthony Eyanson will start on Saturday. The junior from Lakewood, California, was ranked as one of the top players in the transfer portal.
The right-hander has pitched on the USA Baseball Collegiate Team and had a nice season for the Tritons last year, 6-2 with a 3.07 ERA. He also struck out 85 batters and limited hitters to a .190 batting average.
Big right-hander Chase Shores makes his return from Tommy John Surgery on Sunday. Shores has not pitched since 2023, but is topping out at 99 miles per hour on his fastball, and big things are expected from six-foot-eight Midland, Texas native.
