UCLA puts Murray State's MCWS Cinderella run on pause; LSU tops Arkansas
Murray State and No. 15 UCLA saw their first action of the 2025 Men's College World Series on Saturday, where the former’s ongoing Cinderella story hit a bit of a snag in Game 3 after the Bruins’ 6-4 win.
Both starters -- Nic Schutte for the Racers and Michael Barnett for the Bruins -- had shaky opening arguments, issuing a combined five walks in the first inning. However, after Barnett worked his way out of an early jam to open the game, his teammates quickly cashed in; the first four batters of the game for UCLA all reached safely (1B, 3 BB), and a run-scoring walk issued to third baseman Roman Martin granted the Bruins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
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The Bruins would continue to tack on throughout the afternoon, making it a 2-0 game on an RBI single in the bottom of the second before putting up a four-spot in the fourth.
Murray State finally broke through against Barnett in the top of the fifth, plating their first run of the game on an RBI single by Carson Garner; however, with the Racers set up for more, Bruins left fielder Dean West swiftly stopped the bleeding with an outstanding diving catch to end the inning.
Although Murray State mounted a late rally in the top of the 8th, opening the inning with a walk and a double against UCLA reliever August Souza, they were again unable to fully cash in -- they plated two runs on a pair of back-to-back RBI groundouts before Souza struck out Racers leadoff man Jonathan Hogart, who had three hits on the day, to end the threat.
Martin and right fielder AJ Salgado each had two RBIs in the winning effort; Barnett worked around four walks in total to give the Bruins 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts.
For Murray State, Schutte completed five innings of work, allowing all six Bruins runs on eight hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
No. 6 Louisiana State 4, No. 3 Arkansas 1
In a matchup flush with 2025 Draft prospects -- 11 of MLB Pipeline’s Top 200 between both dugouts -- one completely stole the show.
LSU sophomore Kade Anderson (MLB Pipeline's No. 3 prospect), coming off a rough outing in Game 1 of the Baton Rouge Super Regional, bounced back beautifully in his Omaha debut, turning in seven innings of one-run ball against Arkansas on Saturday night.
Anderson's seven strikeouts brought him to 170 on the year, eclipsing Tennessee's Liam Doyle (164) for the most in Division I.
The lineup behind the young lefty got to work in the top of the second against Arkansas starter and No. 43 prospect Zach Root -- a sequence of two walks, a bunt single, another single, a bases-loaded hit by pitch and a fielder's choice yielded three runs for the Tigers and chased Root just five outs into the game.
From there, both lineups were all but silenced by an initially unexpected pitcher's duel; Arkansas' Gabe Gaeckle, who came on in relief of Root, turned in six innings opposite Anderson, also allowing one run on three hits while racking up 10 strikeouts, the highest single-game total of his college career.
First baseman Reese Robinett's solo home run in the sixth was ultimately all Arkansas could muster against Anderson, who was pulled at 100 pitches after giving up a leadoff single to open the eighth.
The MCWS will continue on Sunday with Arizona vs. Louisville at 2 p.m. ET and No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 8 Oregon State at 7 p.m.