Complete preview: LSU baseball faces Coastal Carolina in College World Series final
Eight teams arrived at the College World Series in Omaha searching for a national championship. A week later, just two teams remain. LSU and Coastal Carolina are set to meet in the College World Series Final, a best-of-three series beginning on Saturday.
LSU and Coastal both made it through bracket play without taking a loss. The Tigers came close, but stormed back to beat Arkansas with a three-run ninth inning, capped off by a Jared Jones walk-off single. Earlier on Wednesday, Coastal Carolina beat Louisville and extended its win streak to 26 games, the third-longest streak in D-I in the last five seasons.
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If LSU had lost, the Tigers would have been forced to play an elimination game on Thursday, giving the Chanticleers an extra day of rest. But now LSU and CCU will have had two days of rest before the CWS final begins.
Here's a complete preview and schedule for the College World Series final between LSU baseball and Coastal Carolina.
LSU vs. Coastal Carolina: Win probability
Implied probabilities are sourced from BetMGM odds.
Team
Adjusted Win Probability
LSU
62.5%
Coastal Carolina
37.5%
LSU gets a fresh Kade Anderson in Game 1, Eyanson in Game 2
Kade Anderson, LSU's ace, started vs. Arkansas last Saturday and pitched seven innings of one-run baseball. He struck out seven and allowed just three hits. It's what we've come to expect from the lefty who has been one of college baseball's top arms and entered the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft.
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And with LSU going 3-0 in bracket play, Anderson wasn't needed again. He'll take the mound on Saturday with a complete week of rest, the norm for college pitchers. Anderson has thrown 319 pitches in his last three outings. That's not a crazy amount, but this time of year can be taxing for pitchers. LSU doesn't have to worry about fatigue being an issue for Anderson on Saturday.
Anthony Eyanson, LSU's ace 1B, is well-rested, too. Eyanson's start vs. UCLA was cut short after 48 pitches when weather forced the game to be suspended until the next morning. Eyanson was available if needed in LSU's win over Arkansas, but the Tigers' bullpen managed to get it done.
Those 48 pitches are the only pitches Eyanson has thrown since his super regional start.
Coastal Carolina's staff is also well-positioned, but if the series goes to a Game 3, CCU's Riley Eickhoff could be working on slightly shorter rest after throwing 98 pitches on Wednesday.
Which starting rotation has the edge?
The focus in this series will be on the pitchers. LSU boats Anderson and Eyanson while Coastal boasts Cameron Flukey, Jacob Morrison, and Eikhoff. All five are considered among the best pitchers in the nation.
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Coastal Carolina's staff ERA of 3.20 ranks second nationally and LSU isn't far behind, with the Tigers' 3.80 ERA sitting ninth. Coastal Carolina's strikeout to walk ratio is 3.07, seventh in college baseball. LSU's is 2.80, 12th.
Coastal has a slight edge in most pitching stats, but given how similar the numbers are, and Coastal's easier conference schedule, the stats suggest these staffs are neck and neck.
Cameron Flukey is the likely Game 1 starter for the Chanticleers. The 6-foot-6 sophomore has a 3.29 ERA in 95.2 innings. Flukey dominated Sun Belt competition, but has a 5.91 ERA when facing Power Four lineups. The stuff is good, but he's not unhittable.
LSU will counter Flukey with Kade Anderson, the nation's strikeout leader and a consensus top-five draft prospect. Saturday could be a pitcher's duel, but I give LSU the edge with Anderson on the mound. It's hard to beat Anderson without home runs, and Coastal doesn't hit many of those (more on that later).
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On Sunday, I expect to see LSU's Eyanson vs. CCU's Morrison.
Opponents are hitting just .194 vs Morrison in 2025 and he's only walked 22 batters in 104 innings. He owns a 2.08 ERA, and unlike Flukey, his Power Four vs. Sun Belt splits aren't drastic. It doesn't matter who Morrison has faced in 2025 -- he's been dominant.
But LSU is tough to beat when Eyanson pitches. The Tigers have won eight straight games where Eyanson appeared, whether as a starter or out of the pen. He's one of the best strikeout pitchers in the country with 143 K's in 101.2 innings.
Eyanson has allowed seven earned runs in his last eight innings pitched, but was beginning to settle in vs. UCLA until the weather hit. If both Eyanson and Morrison have their best stuff. I give LSU the slight edge on Sunday. But I trust Morrison's consistency, right now. We'll chalk this one up as a tie.
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If a Game 3 is necessary, Coastal could benefit from having three full-time starters. LSU probably won't be saving Casan Evans for a Game 3 start if he's needed for a win in Game 1 or 2.
But overall, Anderson and Eyanson are the two best pitchers in this series when it comes to stuff. They're battle-tested vs. the best lineups in the SEC, and I'm giving LSU's rotation the edge.
Coastal Carolina's bullpen is loaded
The LSU pitching staff has stepped up in Omaha with guys like Chase Shores, Zac Cowan, and Jaden Noot making big-time pitches. But Coastal Carolina's bullpen is one of the best in the sport.
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Chanticleers' reliever Ryan Lynch has a 0.58 ERA in 31 innings. The last time he allowed a run was March 22. In 27 appearances, he's allowed an earned run just twice. Those are video game numbers.
Dominick Carbone, Matthew Potok, Darin Horn and Hayden Johnson all boast ERAs of 3.00 or less in 20+ innings pitched.
LSU doesn't lack talent, and the recent performances are promising, but the bullpen has faltered at points this season. When it gets away from the LSU pen, it's rarely because the Tigers are getting hit. It's usually about an inability to throw strikes.
Chase Shores can touch 100, but you don't always know where it's going to go. Lately, Shores has been executing though. If Shores continues this run, LSU has another high-leverage arm to count on.
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LSU's top arm out of the pen is Casan Evans. The true freshman is an emerging star and entered LSU's starting rotation late in the year, but with LSU lacking quality arms in the pen, Evans has been Johnson's go-to reliever in the postseason.
Another positive development was the re-emergence of Zac Cowan. For much of the season, Cowan was unhittable out of the pen, but he struggled to locate over the last month. He got the start for LSU vs. Arkansas on Wednesday and pitched 5.1 innings without allowing a walk.
LSU lineup: Tigers continue to be clutch
Situational hitting has been the story for LSU throughout the postseason. Whether it's with runners in scoring position or keeping an inning alive with two outs, LSU is coming through when it matters. Look no further than the Tigers' ninth inning vs. Arkansas.
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LSU's lineup does a little bit of everything. The Tigers have the power to hit balls out of the park, but can play small ball too. The Tigers take walks, and when pitchers issue too many free passes, LSU makes them pay with clutch hits.
Derek Curiel and Ethan Frey, LSU's typical No. 1 and No. 2 hitters, have been pivotal in getting rallies going. Coastal Carolina's pitchers are tough to hit. It will be key for Curiel and Frey to deliver quality at-bats at the top of the order. If Curiel and Frey make CCU work, there's bound to be a mistake at some point. LSU has the bats in the middle of the lineup to make the Chanticleers pay.
Jared Jones has homered in back-to-back games for the Tigers. His homer vs. UCLA gave LSU, his homer vs. Arkansas tied the game, and his walk-off single won the game. Not many guys have the power to hit it out of Charles Schwab Stadium, but Jones does. If he keeps swinging the bat like this, LSU will score enough runs to win this series.
How does Coastal Carolina score runs?
Coastal Carolina doesn't rely on the long ball. With 66 homers on the year, the lineup isn't absent of power, but it's not the Chanticleers' identity.
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Coastal Carolina does two things really well: Get hit by pitches and steal bases. CCU leads the nation in HBPs and led the Sun Belt in stolen bags. And while they don't smash a ton of homers, the Chanticleers led the Sun Belt with 123 doubles.
Catcher Caden Bodine leads the team in hits and on-base percentage. He's one of the draft's top prospects, for what he does at the plate and behind it.
Sebastian Alexander is a key piece too, scoring 59 runs. He's second on the team with 10 homers and leads the group with 27 steals.
In Omaha, Colby Thorndyke has been Coastal Carolina's top run producer with 8 RBI in three games.
LSU baseball vs. Coastal Carolina: College World Series Schedule
Here is the schedule for the final series as LSU looks for its eighth national title in program history.
Game 1, Saturday, June 21
The series will begin Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. LSU will be the home team, and ace Kade Anderson is expected to get the start.
Game 2, Sunday, June 22
Game 2 is set for 1:30 p.m. CT. LSU is expected to start Anthony Eyanson and be the visiting team.
Game 3, Monday, June 23
If necessary, the squads will play a decisive Game 3 at 6:30 p.m. CT on Monday. LSU's CWS final vs. Florida went to three games in 2023.
LSU and Coastal Carolina have history
LSU met Coastal Carolina in the 2016 super regional. An unseeded team nationally, Coastal Carolina came into Alex Box Stadium and knocked off an LSU squad ranked inside the top-8 in front of one of the most intimidating crowds in the country. The Tigers suffered an 11-8 loss in game one, then in game two, suffered a defeat in walk-off fashion that ended their season.
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Coastal Carolina defeated Florida, TCU and Arizona en route to hoisting the trophy in 2016. Current LSU head coach Jay Johnson held the same role at Arizona at the time.
The upset was a shock at the time, especially to LSU fans, but CCU has since gone on to be one of the sport's most consistent programs.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU baseball vs. Coastal Carolina: Complete preview for CWS finals
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