Why was Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall tossed in College World Series final game?
On Sunday, Coastal Carolina took the field at the 2025 College World Series, hoping to keep its hopes of a national championship alive against LSU.
If they're going to pull off the win in Game 2 in the best-of-three championship series, the Chanticleers will have to do so without the man who helped lead them there.
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall was ejected from the game in the bottom of the first inning of a June 22 game at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska against LSU, which would win the NCAA championship with a victory Sunday.
While it's unclear why, exactly, Schnall was kicked out, television cameras showed him coming out of the dugout to argue with home-plate umpire Angel Campos while putting up three fingers and appearing to say the crew missed three pitches.
Schnall had received a warning from Campos for arguing balls and strikes and was then ejected for leaving the dugout. After the umpire's ruling, he continued to argue, for which he'll receive a two-game suspension, keeping him out of the rest of the series.
If they win Sunday, the Chanticleers will force a decisive Game 3 against LSU on June 23. The Tigers won Game 1 1-0 on June 21 behind a complete-game shutout from star pitcher Kade Anderson, who struck out 10 batters.
The NCAA baseball rule book notes that a coach can be ejected for what Schnall was alleged to have done. The rule states:
"Balls, strikes, half swings or decisions about hit-by-pitch situations are not to be argued. After a warning, any player or coach who continues to argue balls, strikes, half swings or a hit-by-pitch situation shall be ejected from the game. Umpires shall record the warning."
It goes on to add that "if a coach leaves the dugout or their position to argue a ball or strike call (including a half swing or hit-by-pitch), the coach may be ejected without warning."
In addition to Schnall, Coastal Carolina first-base coach Matt Schilling was also tossed. The ESPN broadcast crew said Schnall described Schilling as the most important coach on his staff. Schilling was kicked out after walking behind the umpires near the first-base line and continuing to make comments to them, prompting the ejection.
With Schnall gone, Chanticleers associate head coach Chad Oxendine is serving as the acting coach, per the ESPN broadcast. Oxendine has college head-coaching experience, having worked as the Longwood head coach from 2022-24.
The altercation occurred 10 pitches into the bottom of the second inning, shortly after Coastal Carolina's Sebastian Alexander stole second base with two outs.
Social media had no shortage of reactions to Schnall's ejection, with many believing Campos' move was an overreaction so early in a championship game. Here's a sampling:
Though it was scoreless when Schnall was ejected, LSU built a 5-1 lead by the end of the third inning.
LSU is vying for its eighth CWS title overall and its second in the past three years while Coastal Carolina is trying to win its second. Before their loss to the Tigers Saturday night, the Chanticleers had a 26-game win streak.
The NCAA released a statement on June 22 addressing Schnall's ejection. The statement read, in part:
"In the bottom of the first inning, Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling were ejected from the game for continued arguing about balls and strikes after being warned initially by the umpire crew. NCAA Playing Rule 3-6-f-Note 1 states that balls, strikes, half swings or decisions about hit-by-pitch situations are not to be argued. After a warning, any player or coach who continues to argue balls, strikes, half swings or a hit-by-pitch situation shall be ejected from the game."
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Louisiana State University are national champions of college baseball for the second time in three years. The Tigers defeated Coastal Carolina 5-3 on Sunday to sweep the College World Series finals. It is LSU's eighth title in program history, the second most in NCAA Division I history behind University of Southern California's 12. With the LSU fans at Charles Schwab Field on Omaha, Nebraska, chanting the school's name, pitcher Chase Shores worked his way out of jam following a lead-off single by Ty Dooley by getting Wells Sykes to ground into a game-ending double play. Tigers players jumped out of the dugout and rushed the pitching mound, where a celebratory dogpile ensued. LSU pitcher Kade Anderson was named the tournament's most outstanding player, leading the Tigers with a 2-0 record along with a 0.56 ERA in two appearance in the MCWS. The sophomore, along with Game 2's starter Anthony Eyanson, expressed their school pride to the ABC broadcast after the game. 'This is the place to be now,' Eyanson said. 'C'mon now.' With Anderson adding, 'LSU is used to this by now. It's number eight, I am sure next year will be number nine but just looking forward to celebrating this one with the boys and just super proud of everyone that made this happen.' THE TIGERS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Tigers coach Jay Johnson became the fastest head coach in college baseball history to win multiple national titles at a school, with two titles in his first four years. The Chanticleers came into the championship series on a 26-game unbeaten streak and starting pitcher Jacob Morrison played a vital role in the program's success. Despite the unfamiliar feeling of a Game 1 loss on Saturday, the team turned to the Sun Belt Player of the Year with the season and title hopes on the line a day later. The sophomore ace struggled, pitching 3.2 innings while allowing five earned runs on six hits. Morrison came into the championship series game with a 12-0 record, 2.08 ERA along with 102 strikeouts. After the Chanticleers took an early lead, LSU tied it at 1-1 in the third on Ethan Frey's RBI double and went up 5-1 in the fourth and never looked back. LSU starting pitcher Eyanson was faced with the tough task of facing the Coastal squad, and the junior right-hander was up for the challenge, striking out nine batters in 6.1 innings while limiting Coastal to three runs. Coastal Carolina are no strangers to success in June, after winning the national title in 2016, The Chanticleers were trying to become the first team since 1962 and the fifth all-time to win the championship in its first two CWS appearances, according to the Associated Press. Facing a 1-0 series deficit coming into Sunday's game, first year head coach Kevin Schnall along with first base coach Matt Schilling got a rude awakening in the bottom of the first inning. Both were ejected after the broadcast appeared to show Schnall coming out of the dugout to argue with the home plate umpire Angel Campos. The NCAA said in a statement to CNN that Schnall was arguing balls and strikes, was given a warning and was thrown out when he did not leave immediately. Schilling was tossed for comments he made as the confrontation with umpires continued near the plate. Associate head coach Chad Oxendine took over managerial duties for the rest of the game. After the game, Schnall was critical of the umpiring crew, saying they shouldn't have been so quick to eject him in a game of this magnitude. 'As an umpire, I feel like it's your job to manage the game, the national championship game with some poise, some tolerance and a little bit of calmness,' Schnall told reporters. As the heated first-inning exchange went on, another umpire fell and indicated to Schnall that he would be suspended for bumping into him, which the coach denied. 'If that warrants an ejection, I am the first one to stand here like a man and apologize,' an emotional Schnall said. 'Two words that define our program are 'own it' and what does that mean is that you have to own everything that you do. Without blame, without defending yourself. Without excuses. 'There was a guy who came in extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos' foot. Embarrassed in front of 25,000, immediately goes '2-game suspension,' and said 'bumping the umpire.' … There was no bump. He was embarrassed. I shouldn't be held accountable for a grown man's athleticism.' The NCAA added that 'prolonged arguing' results in a two-game suspension, meaning Schnall would miss the first two games of the 2026 season. Schilling would miss the first three games of next season. 'I'm not sorry for what happened,' Schnall said. 'I'm sorry for this being over. I'm sorry for how it ended.'
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