LSU players celebrate their win over Coastal Carolina in the Men's College World Series Finals, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Coastal Carolina entered the Men’s College World Series Finals on a 26-game winning streak, had won a program-record 56 games overall, and their ace pitcher, Jacob Morrison, hadn’t lost all season. But then then Chanticleers ran up against LSU, maybe the most dominant program in Division I baseball.
The Tigers promptly snapped Coastal Carolina’s winning streak on Saturday, when LSU’s ace, Kade Anderson, tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout in a 1-0 victory. And they claimed the 2025 national title on Sunday, when a four-run fourth inning ended Morrison’s day early. The championship is the second in three years for LSU, and its eighth in program history, which have all come since 1991. USC owns the most D-I baseball titles with 12, but none since 1998.
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While Anderson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the MCWS and could be the No. 1 overall pick in next month’s MLB Draft, there’s no drop-off between him and LSU’s other starting pitcher, Anthony Eyanson, who allowed just three runs and seven hits in his 6.1 innings pitched Sunday. He collected his 12th win of the year (matching Anderson’s total) and dropped his ERA to a team-best 3.00.
It was Eyanson’s first year with LSU, transferring in after two seasons at UC San Diego. He was someone LSU head coach Jay Johnson had targeted in the transfer portal last summer.
“There’s one guy a summer in this crazy new world that we’re living in that you know it’s going to tip the scales for you to have an opportunity to be here and do what we just accomplished, and that was Anthony Eyanson,” Johnson said in the postgame press conference.
On the field after the championship win, Eyanson was asked what worked so well for him Sunday.
“Man, it’s all God,” he said. “I was not by myself on the mound. I’m just so blessed to be a part of this team. I just wanted to mentally and physically compete and go right after them.”
Eyanson hasn’t been the only LSU player to give God glory during the Tigers’ championship run. Joining Anderson on the MCWS All-Tournament team was freshman standout Derek Curiel, whose two-out single in the fourth-inning rally brought home two runs and pushed LSU’s lead to 5-1.
Curiel has been LSU’s top hitter all season, and has shared about his reliance on the Lord too.
“In my walk with Christ and me playing baseball, I pray continually in the outfield, honestly. Literally when I’m in the outfield, I’m talking to God the whole entire time,” he recently told Access the Walk. “I think that’s what keeps me going. I love the game of baseball because you fail so much that you can’t get caught up in that failure, and you have to move on. You just have to be where you are and trust in Him and go out there and have fun and play with confidence. I always say that my confidence comes from the Lord. It’s not cockiness, it’s just I already know where I’m going after I die, so I should just live my life to glorify Him and be selfless.”
Getting that fourth-inning rally going was right fielder Jake Brown, who drew a leadoff walk against Morrison. The team’s cleanup hitter was asked about his faith last week by CBN Sports.
“Just letting go and letting God has a lot to do with my game,” he said. “Knowing that I can always fall back on Him and trust in the plan that God has for me is something awesome. I know that every time that I play this game that I love, that I’m fortunate enough to play, I always love to thank God for the opportunities, knowing that win or lose, no matter how good or bad that I do, I’ve always got a family member right there. So it’s nice to be able to play for something bigger than myself.”
CBN Sports also talked with Josh Pearson, who was one of just eight players remaining from the 2023 national championship team. Now a senior, he talked about the impact of Bible studies that are open to the whole team.
“My freshman and sophomore years, they always had Bible studies every week and I didn’t really go very often, but I knew that they were happening,” he said. “And then starting last year and going into this year, I’ve started going every week. A lot of guys on the team come and it’s just a great time where we can sit, talk, have fun and just talk about Christ, read the Scripture. It just helps me a lot with my walk.
“It’s not really a common thing to talk about Jesus in the locker room, but when we have stuff like [Bible studies], it makes it a common thing. It makes it where you’re comfortable talking about it to your friends.”
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