How Coastal Carolina and Kevin Schnall's shared belief took them to the College World Series finals
OMAHA, Neb. — Not long after Coastal Carolina won a national championship in 2016, in its first trip to the College World Series, Matt Hogue was standing in line at Disneyland to take a photo of his two daughters with Ariel the mermaid when his phone rang.
It was Kevin Schnall, then the Chanticleers' assistant head coach, whom Hogue, the Coastal athletic director at the time, and coach Gary Gilmore had lured back to his alma mater a year earlier. An understanding existed that Schnall, a former second-team All-America catcher and 12-year Coastal assistant before he spent three seasons on the bench at UCF, would take control of the program when Gilmore retired.
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But the unexpected national championship had accelerated timelines.
'His star was rising,' Hogue said.
Schnall was being pursued as a head coach, he told Hogue on that call. They had grown up together at Coastal. Hogue started work in the athletic department as a media relations assistant in charge of baseball at the same time Schnall arrived as a student-athlete in 1997.
'He was the one who gave me the recognition that allowed me to become an All-American,' Schnall said.
Hogue asked Schnall to hold tight.
'I said, 'Look Kevin, we need to keep you at Coastal,'' Hogue said. ''Give me about 24 hours to figure some things out, and I'll put together a plan. I've got an idea that might work for you.''
Schnall stayed. Nine years later, he's leading Coastal Carolina into the CWS championship series against LSU, starting Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, as the only rookie head coach in college baseball history to win his first eight games in the NCAA postseason.
Coastal Carolina (56-11) has won 26 consecutive games, the third-longest Division I winning streak of the past five years. Schnall, 48, joins Dan McDonnell of Louisville and legends Mike Martin of Florida State and Cliff Gustafson of Texas as the only coaches to lead teams to the CWS in their first seasons as a head coach.
In his opening statement to the media Wednesday after Coastal completed its third systematic dispatching of an opponent in Omaha — an 11-3 win against Louisville — Schnall said that he was 'forever grateful' to Hogue.
The 2016 interruption at Disneyland led to a restructured contract for Schnall.
'We put a little teeth into it,' Hogue said. 'We put it hard and fast that if Gilly does not retire by (2021), we will pay you like a head coach.'
For four seasons before this year, that's how it went. Schnall earned a salary on par with top coaches in the Sun Belt. Gilmore announced at the end of 2023 that 2024, his 29th season, would be his last in the dugout.
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Schnall received a long runway. In reality, he had nearly a decade to get ready. It explains in part how Schnall blew past Martin (51 wins in 1980) and Mike Batesole (52 at Cal State Northridge in 1996) to record the most wins ever by a first-year DI head coach.
What the college baseball community did not recognize in Schnall before this season, Hogue did.
'I have not known anyone who is more meticulously detailed and organized,' he said.
Hogue, former chair of the DI baseball committee, stepped away last June from administration to direct the center for sports broadcasting at Coastal Carolina's Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts.
He journeyed to Omaha last week for the start of Coastal's first trip since the magic of 2016. Hogue is back for the best-of-three championship series to watch the Chants attempt to make history as the first team since Michigan in 1962 to win a national championship in its first two visits.
LSU seeks its eighth title after it stunned Arkansas with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday. The dramatic win allowed for a two-day break as both squads swept their sides of the bracket.
A Saturday night pitching matchup awaits with top MLB prospect Kade Anderson (11-1, 3.44 ERA) for the Tigers against Cameron Flukey (7-1, 3.29).
Coastal ace Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08) is ready for Game 2, Sunday at 2 p.m.
For Coastal Carolina, Schnall sets the tone.
Imagine another first-year coach publicly going after Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan — the nine-time CWS coach and 2017 national champion — as Schnall did when O'Sullivan ranted at administrators over a delayed start three weeks ago in an NCAA-regional game hosted by Coastal.
There was an incident that occurred prior to the Florida/ECU game that had people talking.
Reportedly Florida HC Kevin O'Sullivan was upset that the game was moved.
He was seen ripping into CCU officials & NCAA Officials
CCU Kevin Schnall made sure to address the matter pic.twitter.com/jQS5vvlJPO
— Brandon Dunn (@BDunnsports) June 2, 2025
Schnall called O'Sullivan a 'bully' and 'disrespectful.' O'Sullivan later issued an apology.
Pushed by their coach, Coastal backs down to no one. As the No. 13 seed in the 64-team postseason, the Chants traveled to No. 4 Auburn for super-regional play. They swept the Tigers.
'We were picked fourth in the Sun Belt,' Schnall said. 'No problem. We'll move forward, keep our head down and keep grinding.'
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Coastal batters have been hit by 176 pitches this season, an NCAA record.
'Our guys are obsessed with getting on base,' Schnall said.
Coastal has scored in the first inning of every game in this postseason. It jumped on Louisville for six runs Wednesday in the opening frame. Center fielder Wells Sykes, a Citadel transfer who bats ninth in the Chants' lineup, has reached base safely in all 26 victories during the Coastal streak.
'I take a ton of pride in that,' Sykes said. 'I'm trying to go up there and do my job for the team. That's what makes us successful. There's nobody selfish, one through nine, and the bench players, too.
'When people get in the lineup, they know what they need to do. They can't be selfish. It's relentless.'
If the Chanticleers go down against sixth-seeded LSU, which has history on its side and an edge in depth and talent, it's sure to be a fight.
Schnall doesn't know another way.
'We've got a bunch of humble dogs in that dugout that are willing to do whatever it takes to win,' he said. 'That's why we're one of two teams in the country still playing today.'
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