And there there were two... The No. 13 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will face the No. 6 LSU Tigers in the finals of the 2025 Men's College World Series. It will be a best-of-three series in Omaha for the right to be crowned national champions. Coastal Carolina got past Arizona, Louisville and Oregon State in Bracket 1, while LSU came out of Bracket 2 featuring Arkansas, Murray State and UCLA.
While LSU baseball is considered to be a powerhouse with seven national championships on its resume, you might be surprised to learn how good of a program Coastal Carolina really is after all. To date, Coastal Carolina baseball has won one national title back in 2016. It is the Chanticleers' second trip to Omaha and their first since winning it all in 2016. Coastal has played in this tournament a ton.
Although Coastal Carolina made its first trip to the Men's NCAA Tournament way back in 1991, they did not win their first regional championship until 2008. It took them three tries, but they won their first super regional nine years ago in 2016, en route to winning their first-ever national title. The Chanticleers defeated the Arizona Wildcats two games to won for the 2016 National Championship.
Much of the program's success has come under their iconic former manager in one Gary Gilmore.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are playing for the second national title
Gilmore went 1,118-597-3 in his illustrious coaching career at Coastal from 1996 to 2024. He played for the Chanticleers from 1979 to 1980 before returning to Conway after leading USC Aiken from 1990 to 1995. From 2001 on, Coastal Carolina became a mainstay in the men's college baseball tournament. Over time, the Chanticleers proved they could play with the big boys under Gilmore.
What is interesting this time around is one of his disciples in long-time assistant Kevin Schnall is running point from the dugout for the Chanticleers. He succeeded Gilmore ahead of this season with his mentor opting to retire. In only his first season as the manager, Schnall has already achieved the second greatest season in Chanticleers baseball history, with a chance to make it even better now.
To get to this point, Coastal won the Conway regional over the likes of East Carolina, Fairfield and Florida. The Chanticleers then beat No. 4 Auburn two games to none in the Auburn super regional to get to Omaha. No team is hotter in college baseball, as the Chanticleers are riding an unbelievable 26-game winning streak. They have not lost a game since April 22. They only need to win two more.
LSU may be the higher-seeded and bigger household name, but Coastal Carolina is no underdog.