About 130 days ago was the first day of the 2025 men’s college baseball season, now we’re down to just two teams.
On Saturday June 21st, 2025 the LSU Tigers will begin a best of three series against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
LSU fans may remember 2016 when the Chanticleers took down Paul Mainieri and the Tigers in the Baton Rouge Super Regional before beating Jay Johnson and the Arizona Wildcats in the national championship.
Coastal Carolina head coach, Kevin Schnall, is in his first year of being the head coach of the Chanticleers. Schnall spent his first 11 years (2001-2012) coaching as an assistant coach for Coastal under legendary head coach, Gary Gilmore.
Schnall then left in 2013 for UCF but quickly found his way back to his alma mater as assistant coach for the Chanticleers from 2016-2024. Ultimately, after Gary Gilmore stepped down, Kevin Schnall was the next man up.
In his first season as the head coach of Coastal Carolina, Schnall has led them to a 56-11 record as well as a Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship. Coastal is also on a 26 game winning streak, dating all the way back to April 22, 2025.
The Chanticleers are first in the nation in hit by pitch (172), second in team ERA (3.20), second in WHIP (1.18), eighth in opponents batting average (.226) and fifth in double plays (54).
The Chanticleer pitching staff is arguably one of the best. Sophomore, Jacob Morrison, is the current ace of their team as he leads the team with a 2.08 ERA and a 12-0 record.
Also on the pitching staff, starting in Saturday’s game against the Tigers is Cameron Flukey. Flukey has an ERA of 3.34 on the year as well as a 7-1 record.
Flukey’s main flaw and most noticeable setback is his ERA of 5.91 when facing power four teams.
Coastal is not only led by their phenomenal pitching but also who they have behind the plate, Caden Bodine. Bodine is a finalist for the Buster Posey Catcher Of The Year Award which awards the nations best catcher. He has most recently gone viral due to a picture of all of his pitches that were initially balls but called strikes due to his ability to frame the baseball.
During this year’s Men’s College World Series, Coastal Carolina has scored 22 runs in three games. In order for LSU to handle this team, they’re going to have to limit runs early in the game.
“A little bit of heartbreak,” Jake Brown said when asked about what he remembers from LSU losing to Coastal Carolina in 2016. “Obviously things didn’t go our way that time but we are looking forward to turning it around and making something good happen for us this time.”
For the most part, LSU isn’t worried about their past failure, but is instead looking forward to the next pitch and the next at bat.
“I think you’re at the point in the NCAA tournament, you’ve been battle tested,” Head Coach Jay Johnson said when asked about what advantage they may have over Coastal Carolina. “I think that’s just the way it is.”
LSU is coming off a come from behind walk-off win over the Arkansas Razorbacks 6-5 which sent them to this national championship series.
While Coastal Carolina announced their starter, Cameron Flukey, LSU did not announce their starter. Although it was not announced, we can almost say for certain that it will be Kade Anderson taking the mound against the Chanticleers.
The Tigers are seeking their eighth national championship and their first since 2023 as the Chanticleers are seeking their first since 2016 and their second all time.
Game one of this amazing best of three series will be played Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. CT live on ESPN.
