By Ross Kelly
A college baseball season that began in mid-February with 303 Division I teams has reached its conclusion, and only two programs are left standing. The 2025 College World Series has arrived with the No. 6-seed LSU Tigers (51-15) facing the No. 13-seed Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (53-11). The best-of-three CWS Final will begin Saturday, with Game 2 on Sunday, and if necessary, a deciding Game 3 on Monday night.
On paper, this appears to be a David vs. Goliath matchup pitting the mid-major Chanticleers against a powerhouse SEC program in the Tigers. LSU, with seven CWS championships (second-most all-time), is certainly a Goliath, and several of the players who won the 2023 CWS are still around this year. But Coastal Carolina is no Cinderella on a lucky run. Rather, the Chanticleers are on a truly historic run, and they have not only experience in Omaha, but success as well.
In 2016 Coastal Carolina won the College World Series, which remains its only NCAA championship in any sport. CCU is also the only school from outside a power conference to win the College World Series over the last 16 years, as LSU and its SEC brethren have dominated as of late, with the Southeastern Conference winning each of the last five College World Series. It just so happens that Coastal Carolina’s 2016 win came over the Arizona Wildcats, whose coach then, Jay Johnson, is now the coach in the other dugout.
As for that historic run, Coastal Carolina has won an astounding 26 games in a row, including sweeping through its Regional, Super Regional and three games thus far in the 2025 CWS. CCU last suffered a defeat on April 22. This streak is the longest in NCAA history for a team entering the College World Series Final, and the Chants are looking to become the first team since UCLA in 2013 to go undefeated in the NCAA Tournament.
LSU doesn’t have a run like CCU entering play on Saturday, but it is coming off perhaps the college baseball game of the year to earn its spot in the final. The Tigers played SEC rivals Arkansas on Wednesday and displayed their flair for the dramatics, overcoming deficits of 3-2 in the eighth inning and 5-3 in the ninth to win via a walk-off hit from star Jared Jones.
The first baseman is tied for eighth in the nation with 22 home runs and 12th in total bases (170). But the strength of LSU is its pitching staff—it has the nation’s leader in strikeouts, Kade Anderson (170), as well as the pitcher who finished third, Anthony Eyanson (143). With those two atop the rotation, LSU’s team ERA of 3.80 is ninth-best in the country and fourth-best among teams from power conferences.
CCU doesn’t have the offensive firepower of the Tigers, as the former’s top home run hitter, Blake Barthol, has 12 dingers, while LSU has three players with at least 12 longballs. However, the Chants’ pitching staff stands eye-to-eye with LSU’s, and even exceeds it in some regards. Coastal Carolina’s team ERA of 3.20 is the second-best in the country, led by ace Jacob Morrison. The 2025 Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year is a perfect 12-0 this season with a 2.08 ERA. Coastal checks off the other pitching metrics as well, ranking third in Division I in team WHIP (1.18) and seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.07).
While Coastal Carolina hasn’t faced the same level of competition as LSU did in the SEC, one fact is undeniable: CCU is lights out when it gets a late lead. The team is 48-0 this season when leading after seven innings, and it has won 57 straight overall when leading after seven, which is the longest active streak in D1. But it has yet to face a team as clutch as the Tigers—just ask Arkansas.
With its 2016 championship in its first ever trip to Omaha, CCU can become the first program since Michigan in 1962 to win the title in each of its first two trips to the CWS. History is also at stake for the Tigers, who want to add to their collection of CWS championships. Only USC (12) has more national titles than the Tigers’ seven, while LSU is also looking to become the first program to win four College World Series since the NCAA Baseball Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
Game 1 of the 2025 CWS is Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, with Game 2 on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. If needed, Game 3 will be Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET, with all games coming from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
