The Men’s College World Series Finals began Saturday evening between the two hottest teams in the country, Coastal Carolina and LSU. These two teams took two very different paths to get here, but each one earned its spot in this year’s Men’s College World Series Finals.
Coastal Carolina was unranked heading into the 2025 season before dominating the Sun Belt Conference, securing both the regular season and conference tournament championships to reach the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s No. 13 seed, and now own the nation’s longest winning streak at 26. LSU entered the season as the third-ranked team in the country and while it did not win the loaded SEC’s regular season or tournament championships, the team was good enough to earn the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament prior to reaching the MCWS Finals.
In a matchup of blueblood versus new blood, the MCWS Finals show promise to cap one of the most incredible College World Series in recent memory by closing out the 75th anniversary of the event with as much drama as it started with.
Coastal Carolina, riding its 26-game winning streak into the championship series, is in search of its second national championship in as many tries in Omaha. It appears the team has a great shot to do so – the Chanticleers hold the longest winning streak entering the MCWS finals since the championship became a best-of-three series in 2003. The longest winning streak entering the championship series prior to Coastal Carolina’s was 13 games, held by LSU in 2009.
The 2025 Finals feature some interesting coincidences and draws many parallels to that 2016 run as well. When Coastal Carolina won the school’s first Division I national championship in 2016, it defeated Arizona in the championship series. This season, Coastal defeated the same team, Arizona, in its first game and now faces the same coach, Jay Johnson, in the MCWS Finals. In head coach Kevin Schnall’s first season leading the Chanticleers, he will look to repeat history to become the first-ever first-year head coach to win the Men’s College World Series.
LSU is second all-time in Men’s College World Series championships with seven and is looking to close the gap on USC’s 12 with a win in the MCWS Finals for the second time in three years. Now-LSU head coach Jay Johnson was the last first-year head coach to lead his team to the MCWS Finals, when he led Arizona to the championship series in 2016. That year, Johnson was searching to become the first-ever first-year head coach to win the College World Series but was stopped in his tracks by the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Now, Johnson has a chance at redemption and can stop Kevin Schnall from making history at the same school that denied Johnson his opportunity.
LSU boasts six top 200 prospects in this year’s MLB Draft and is led by the nation’s top pitching prospect Kade Anderson. The Tigers last won the College World Series in 2023 when they defeated Florida in three games, also behind a crop of MLB talent and the nation’s top pitcher, Paul Skenes. A staple of college baseball, this LSU team is once again loaded with top-end talent and is looking to show why they are the favorites entering the MCWS Finals.
The only thing hotter than the two teams at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on Saturday was the temperature, which was a balmy 96 degrees at first pitch.
The Tigers bit first, when an RBI single up the middle by Steven Milam scored Derek Curiel from second base in the bottom of the first inning.
Cameron Flukey locked in after giving up the run, striking out the next two batters to get out of the first inning with LSU ahead, 1-0.
Following a scoreless second inning, Coastal Carolina put two runners on base with no outs in the top of the third. It looked like the Chanticleers might put runs on the board themselves, but some magnificent fielding by LSU and bad breaks for Coastal thwarted those hopes.
Blake Barthol laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, but LSU pitcher Kade Anderson made a great play, fielding the bunt and making the force out at third base for the first out of the inning.
Anderson then struck out Coastal Carolina’s cleanup hitter Walker Mitchell on three straight pitches for out number two.
During the next at-bat, Sebastian Alexander got a good jump trying to steal third base and beat the throw to the bag but was moving so fast that he slid over third base and was tagged for out number three, and LSU took the batter’s box in the bottom of the third inning still ahead 1-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the third inning and an 0-2 count against him, Steven Milam sent a ball to deep right field that hit the top of the wall and bounced back in, giving trouble to right fielder Blagen Pado that resulted in a double.
When Milam reached third base on a wild pitch, LSU threatened to grow its lead before the end of the inning.
However, Cameron Flukey dug in and struck out Jake Brown looking to end the threat and move into the fourth inning.
The fourth, fifth and sixth innings came and went with no runs scored and there was a good old fashioned pitchers’ duel brewing at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, with LSU still in the driver’s seat, 1-0.
Through six innings, Cameron Flukey allowed four hits, one run and struck out nine batters for Coastal Carolina, while Kade Anderson allowed just two hits and no runs, striking out eight along the way for LSU.
The first pitching change came in the seventh inning, when Coastal Carolina brought in Dominick Carbone, who was tasked with keeping the game within one run. Carbone did just that, holding LSU scoreless through the seventh and eighth innings.
Finally, the ninth inning arrived with Coastal Carolina still looking helpless against Kade Anderson, who was still on the bump and on the verge of posting a complete game shutout against one of the best offenses in college baseball.
Anderson kept pumping, striking out one of the top batters of the CWS, Colby Thorndyke for the first out of the ninth inning.
Dean Mihos then grounded out to third base, where Michael Braswell III made a great play and throw to record out number two, bringing LSU one out away from a Game One win.
After walking pinch hitter Domenico Tozzi, Anderson drew a shallow fly ball from Wells Sykes for the final out of the game, putting LSU one win away from winning the 75th edition of The Greatest Show on Dirt.
Player of the game: LHP Kade Anderson – Pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and five walks, striking out 10 batters. Anderson has pitched 16 innings in this MCWS and has allowed six hits and one earned run.
If LSU had not scored the lone run of the game in the first inning, I may have still been sitting here recapping the game. These two teams are indefectible from every angle, and perhaps the only way to stop either is with elite pitching, which LSU had the slight edge in tonight with Kade Anderson. Tomorrow will bring more elite pitching, with Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.92 ERA) for LSU and Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08 ERA) for Coastal Carolina as the likely starters. Kade Anderson once again proved why he will likely be the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft, pitching a masterclass in his complete game shutout that ended Coastal Carolina’s 26-game winning streak. With a win tomorrow, LSU would win its eighth MCWS in school history and second in three years.
Game Two of the Men’s College World Series Finals will begin tomorrow, June 22 at 1:30 p.m.
