By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE — Led by College World Series Most Outstanding Player Kade Anderson, 2025 national champion LSU had four players selected in the first three rounds of the Major League Baseball draft on Sunday night.
The left-handed Anderson was the No. 3 overall pick in the first round by the Seattle Mariners.
Two other key pitchers in the Tigers’ run to their eighth national title, right-handers Chase Shores (2nd round, No. 47 by the Los Angeles Angels) and Anthony Eyanson (3rd round, No. 87 by the Boston Red Sox), were the next two LSU stars selected.
The final first-night Tigers’ draftee was designated hitter Ethan Frey, selected 95th overall in the third round by the Houston Astros.
Anderson, a sophomore from Madisonville, is the fourth LSU player in the last four seasons to be among the top 5 overall MLB Draft selections. The others since 2022 are right-hander Paul Skenes (No. 1, 2023), outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 2, 2023), and infielder Jacob Berry (No. 5, 2022).
This season, Anderson was 12-1 with a 3.18 ERA and a nation-leading 180 strikeouts in 119 innings.
He was 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in the CWS with victories over Arkansas and Coastal Carolina, allowing one run on six hits in 16 innings with 17 strikeouts.
“I think it’s easy to determine a pitcher based on when you’re doing good, but I think the ultimate kind of factor for me is when it’s not going well, what do you react like?” Anderson said. “And just to continue to go out there and battle, and that’s the kind of pitcher I am.”
Anderson hurled only the second complete-game shutout in the Tigers’ College World Series history. He defeated Coastal Carolina on June 21 with a three-hitter in Game 1 of the CWS finals.
Not only is he (Anderson) a great pitcher,” said Seattle vice-president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter, “but it’s a winning pedigree. Kade is a winning player, and we’re extremely excited to put him in our culture, in our pitching program.
“To get a player that has done it, not only in the SEC but has won a College World Series, and values winning more than his progression through a system, that’s a culture-changer in our mind.”
Shores, a redshirt sophomore from Midland, Texas, bounced back this year after sitting out last season rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery. He had a 5-3 record and a 5.09 ERA in 63.2 innings spread over 23 appearances.
He struggled early this season as the third starter. But late in the year, in the postseason, he found his niche as a reliever.
He pitched in four of LSU’s five 2025 College World Series games and notched two saves. He had seven relief innings in the CWS, allowing just three earned runs on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
His save in Game 2 of the CWS finals versus Coastal Carolina on June 22 clinched the national championship. He worked 2.2 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks, and four strikeouts.
Eyanson, a junior transfer from UC San Diego, emerged as a dominant No. 2 starter who won first-team All-American honors. He had a 12-2 record with a 3.00 ERA in 108 innings thrown in 20 appearances (18 starts). He was third nationally in strikeouts with 152 and No. 16 in strikeouts per nine innings (12.67).
He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the CWS finals versus Coastal Carolina. He also threw 19 straight scoreless innings over five appearances from May 17 to June 8.
Frey, a junior from Rosepine, batted .331 this season with 15 doubles, one triple, 13 homers, 50 RBI, and 43 runs. He scored a team-high six runs in the 2025 College World Series and had a .391 on-base percentage in the CWS that included two doubles and four walks.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com