LSU goes for 2nd national title in 3 years as it opens CWS finals against streaking Coastal Carolina

OMAHA, Neb. — LSU and Coastal Carolina have met only two times previously as they enter the College World Series finals Saturday night. Those games back in 2016 have not been forgotten.

Coastal Carolina swept the Tigers on their home field in super regionals on the way to their first national championship. The Chanticleers' opponent in the CWS finals that year was Arizona. Jay Johnson, now at LSU, was Arizona's coach.

Tigers outfielder Jake Brown was 11 years old and living in Sulphur, Louisiana, at the time, and he recalled Friday how the players on that LSU team were superheroes to him.

''A little bit of heartbreak,'' he said Friday. ''That was a great team, a team I think could have made a good run in the championship. Obviously, things didn't go our way that time. Looking forward to turning it around and making something good happen for us this time.''

LSU (51-15) will be playing for its eighth national championship and second in three years. Coastal Carolina (56-11), which brings a 26-game win streak into the best-of-three series, is going for its second title in its second all-time CWS appearance.

''That would put Coastal Carolina baseball on a different planet," Chanticleers coach Kevin Schnall said.

Cameron Flukey (8-1), who pitched four innings of relief against Arizona on June 13, will start for Coastal Carolina. Johnson has not named his starter. Ace Kade Anderson (11-1), who limited Arkansas to three hits and struck out seven in seven innings on June 14, is available.

The Tigers and Chanticleers each went 3-0 in bracket play. LSU had to beat SEC rival Arkansas twice, winning the bracket final 6-5 in walk-off fashion after a wild three-run ninth inning.

LSU's Brown is 4 for 6 with four RBIs in three CWS games and Jared Jones is 5 for 9 with two homers and six RBIs in the last two games after striking out five times in the opener against Arkansas. Tigers pitchers have walked just four in 27 innings.

''I think if you're at this point in the NCAA tournament, you've been battle-tested,'' Johnson said. ''I don't believe there's anything we have not seen. ... I feel like we're well-trained and well-prepared for, in my opinion, probably the best team that we've played this year in Coastal.''

The Chanticleers are yet to hit a home run at Charles Schwab Field. Colby Thorndyke has two bases-clearing doubles and is 5 for 12 with eight RBIs. Dean Mihos is 5 for 12 with a double and triple. Their pitchers have walked four in 25 innings.

Johnson, in his fourth year at LSU after six at Arizona, said his heart still aches for his 2016 Wildcats team. Arizona erased a 4-0 deficit against the Chanticleers in the third and final game of the CWS finals and stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the ninth inning.

''We were one base hit away,'' Johnson said, ''and it took a couple of years to get past that. I think what I do remember about all of that is it has really helped me the next three times that we've been here in terms of knowing how to prepare for this.''

Scoring first is key

Fast starts are a distinguishing feature of Coastal Carolina's offense. The Chanticleers have outscored their three CWS opponents by a combined 11-0 in the first inning and are a Division I-best 37-2 when they score first. LSU is 32-7 when it opens the scoring.

5 is magic number

LSU has won 16 straight CWS games when scoring at least five runs since losing 9-5 to Miami in 2004.

High expectations

Coastal Carolina's Schnall makes it a point to remind the media that the Chanticleers are a national power, but that doesn't mean in February he expected the 2025 team to play for a national championship.

''We were picked fourth in the Sun Belt,'' he said. ''No problem. We'll move forward, keep our head down and keep grinding. That's what this team did. But we clearly felt like this pitching staff was going to be the best pitching staff we ever had.''

The Chanticleers were 19-8 on March 29 and are 37-3 since.

Hit by pitch leaders

Coastal Carolina leads the country with a program record 176 hit-by-pitches this season, breaking UC Irvine's single season-record 175 in 2024. The Chanticleers have been plunked six times in three CWS games.

''They don't eat if they get out of the way,'' Schnall said, drawing laughs. ''No, it's just something that our guys have bought into. Our guys are obsessed with getting on base. They understand the way you score runs is having guys on base. And any way you can get on base helps our team win.''

Line of the day

LSU's Brown drew laughs at Friday's news conference when he explained the straightforward and simple way Johnson prepares him and his teammates to play.

''We came here to play baseball,'' he said. ''We're not really scholars.''

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports