LSU sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson was named the 2025 Baseball America College Pitcher of the Year.
Anderson is the inaugural winner of the award created by Baseball America magazine to honor the nation’s best college pitcher.
According to the magazine:
Baseball America’s creation of a standalone College Pitcher of the Year award comes at a time when elite arms are under more scrutiny than ever, both by pro evaluators and the sport itself. Anderson’s season—durable, dominant and deeply competitive—set the gold standard.
Anderson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 College World Series last weekend after leading LSU to its eighth national championship.
The Madisonville native was 2-0 in Omaha with victories over Arkansas and Coastal Carolina, posting a 0.56 ERA while allowing just one run on six hits in 16.0 innings with 17 strikeouts.
He fired only the second complete-game shutout in LSU’s College World Series history when he defeated Coastal Carolina Saturday with a brilliant three-hitter in Game 1 of the CWS Finals.
Anderson, a 2025 First-Team All-American and All-SEC performer, is also a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award presented by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
He finished 12-1 on the season with a 3.18 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 119.0 innings. He completed the year No. 1 in the nation in total strikeouts and No. 7 in strikeouts per nine innings (13.61).
His total of 180 Ks this season is No. 3 on the LSU single-season strikeouts list, trailing only Paul Skenes (209 Ks, 2023) and Ben McDonald (202 Ks, 1989).
Baseball America writes of Anderson:
The 6-foot-2, 186-pound lefthander combines impressive command with a cold-blooded demeanor and a devastating arsenal. His fastball hovers in the low-to-mid 90s with carry. But his best weapons are his breaking balls—two distinct shapes in a curveball and slider, both of which can eclipse 3,000 rpm and are thrown with equal confidence in any count.