Scorching hot Coastal Carolina glides into CWS final looking to extend history
Sixty days and 26 games have passed since Coastal Carolina's last loss.
Every team arrives at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on a hot streak of one form or another, having at least survived the gauntlet of two double-elimination weekends to be one of the final eight in competition for the national championship.
But the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament winners have taken this to another level. The 23-game streak the Chanticleers carried out of the super regionals was the longest for any team entering World Series play since the current tournament format debuted in 1999, topping Oregon State's 21-game winning streak in 2017.
"Once an umpire says, 'play ball,' our win streak goes away," said sophomore pitcher Jacob Morrison. "I really don't think that it ever carries over, is in our head, quite frankly."
They've added another three at Charles Schwab Field. After topping Arizona and Oregon State, the Chanticleers beat Louisville 11-3 on Wednesday to reach this weekend's best-of-three championship series against LSU.
With this winning streak in tow, the Chanticleers head into the series against the Tigers poised to make history – again.
Nine years ago, Coastal came out of relative anonymity to capture one of the most unexpected banners in college baseball history. Then led by longtime coach Gary Gilmore, the Chanticleers spent more than half of the regular season unranked before hitting a grove in the second half of May. Coastal then won the North Carolina State regional, swept LSU in the super regional and won the final two games against Arizona to become the first and still only team in Sun Belt history to win the national championship.
Coastal is still one of four non-major-conference teams to win the World Series since 1999, joining Rice in 2003, Cal State Fullerton in 2004 and Fresno State in 2008.
After being picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt poll amid questions about how the program would fare under first-year coach Kevin Schnall, a former Coastal catcher and MLB draft pick who spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant, the Chanticleers are in position to capture an out-of-left-field championship.
"It's incredible, but it's not unbelievable," Schnall said after Wednesday's win. "And it's not unbelievable because we've got really good players, really good players."
One is junior catcher Caden Bodine, a multiple-time All-America pick and "the best catcher in the country," Morrison said. Bodine leads Coastal in batting average (.326) and on-base percentage (.459), ranks second in OPS (.932) and entered the tournament having thrown out 16 of 44 would-be base stealers while posting a .998 fielding percentage.
"It's very calming knowing he's back there every time," Morrison added.
Morrison (12-0) headlines maybe the best pitching staff in college baseball. Coastal ranks second nationally in ERA thanks in part to the offseason addition of pitching coach Matt Williams, who spent last season at South Carolina.
Morrison was named the Sun Belt pitcher of the year after missing last year following Tommy John surgery. Sophomore Cameron Flukey, who earned the win against Arizona, has cut his walk rate nearly in half and trimmed more than two runs from his ERA. Fifth-year senior Riley Eikhoff's ERA sits at 3.10 following the Louisville win after he posted an ERA above 4.43 in each of his first three years.
The pitching staff embodies one of the crucial factors behind this year's success. At a time of extensive player movement through the transfer portal, Coastal has largely avoided the same roster turnover to grant a level of continuity that has paid dividends in the postseason.
"Gary Gilmore was able to teach us how to assemble a roster," Schnall said. "It's not about putting together just the best players. You have to put together the best team. Sometimes money doesn't always buy that."
Of the Chanticleers' 10 most-used pitchers, nine arrived as freshmen. The exception, closer Ryan Lynch, played on the junior-college ranks before joining the program.
But the Chanticleers lost three of their four top hitters from last season and, in Gilmore, a Hall of Fame coach who engineered Coastal's development into one of the most consistent winners on the non-major level.
"We had to figure out who was going to fill those gaps," Schnall said.
Former transfers such as outfielders Sebastian Alexander and Wells Sykes have provided an offensive boost: Alexander leads the team in OPS (.948) and steals (27), while Sykes has added 37 RBI and 18 steals. The pair has also combined for 37 hit by pitches, part of Coastal's NCAA-record 176 on the year.
"I think not just me but my teammates, we're locked in," Sykes said. "We're on a crazy win streak. We're really consistent. So I think that's helped everybody, not just me."
The Chanticleers will face another major test against seven-time national champion LSU, which is 8-1 in the tournament after sweeping through World Series games against Arkansas and UCLA. The Tigers spent two weeks at No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and were No. 3 nationally at the end of the regular season.
"We got a bunch of humble dogs in that dugout that are willing to do whatever it takes to win," Schnall said. "That's why we're one of two teams in the country still playing today."
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