By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
OMAHA, Neb. – It might be almost 10 years down the road, but it’s never too late for payback as far as LSU baseball fans and head coach Jay Johnson are concerned.
Ask any lifelong LSU baseball aficionado to rate the Tigers’ worst postseason losses ever, and getting beat twice by relatively unknown Coastal Carolina and losing a 2016 home Super Regional ranks near the top.
Two weeks later, then-Arizona head coach Johnson felt the same pain. His team fought its way out of the College World Series losers’ bracket and won the first game of the championship series over Coastal before the Chanticleers won the next two to capture the national championship.
“That trip was really valuable in learning what the totality of Omaha is,” said Johnson on Thursday afternoon, still smiling about the Tigers’ three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-5 win over Arkansas on Wednesday night that propelled LSU into Saturday’s championship series vs. Coastal Carolina.
Johnson applied the lessons learned from his two Arizona CWS appearances (the other was 2021) after he took over at LSU in 2022 and won the Tigers’ seventh national championship in 2023.
What he learned from that title run has been applied on this fourth trip to the CWS, where he is experiencing his first unblemished journey through the winners’ bracket.
Three straight wins (two victories over Arkansas sandwiching a conquest of UCLA) put the Tigers on a non-stop express to the championship series.
Which means LSU’s top two pitchers – sophomore Kade Anderson and junior Anthony Eyanson, who rank No. 1 and No. 3 in strikeouts nationally – are available to start Game 1 and Game 2 as they normally did in a regular-season weekend series.
Even with such an unexpected but welcomed key element in place, LSU sophomore right fielder Jake Brown said he and his teammates are still focused on their mission of getting two more wins.
“Regardless of the situation, the game doesn’t change,” said Brown, who’s hitting a torrid team-leading .667 in the CWS. “Our goal is to win 18 innings. If it takes more than that, then it’s going to take more than that. We’re looking to win a national championship.”
Coastal Carolina enters the finals on a historic 26-game winning streak, something no CWS team has ever done. The Chanticleers haven’t lost a game in almost two months.
“It’s incredible, but it’s not unbelievable,” said Coastal first-year head coach Kevin Schnall, a long-time Chanticleers’ assistant who replaced the legendary Gary Gilmore, who retired after 29 seasons, 1,118 wins and 19 NCAA tourney trips. “And it’s not unbelievable because we’ve got really good players. This is an absolute selfless group that did unbelievable things this year.”
No. 6 national seed LSU (51-15) vs. No. 13 seed Coastal Carolina (56-11), Charles Schwab Field, CWS championship series game 1, Omaha, Saturday, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
What’s at stake: The best of two of three series to win the 78th annual College World Series (the 75th in Omaha). Game 2 is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on ABC. Game 3 (if needed) is Monday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
2025 NCAA tourney roadmaps
LSU (8-1)
Baton Rouge Regional (3-1): Beat Arkansas-Little Rock 7-0 and Dallas Baptist 12-0, lost to Arkansas-Little Rock 10-4, beat Arkansas-Little Rock 10-6. Baton Rouge Super Regional (2-0): Beat West Virginia 16-9, 12-5. College World Series (3-0): Beat No. 3 national seed Arkansas 4-1, No. 15 national seed UCLA 9-5, and Arkansas 6-5.
COASTAL CAROLINA (8-0)
Conway Regional (3-0): Beat North Fairfield 10-2, East Carolina 18-7, 1-0. Auburn Super Regional (2-0): Beat No. 4 seed Auburn 7-6, 4-1. College World Series (3-0): Beat Arizona 7-4, No. 8 national seed Oregon State 6-2, and Louisville 11-2.
LSU’s CWS record: 49-29 (.628) in 20 appearances (.677), including seven national championships.
Coastal Carolina’s CWS record: 9-2 in two appearances, including one national championship.
LSU vs. Coastal Carolina series: Coastal Carolina leads 2-0 with wins of 11-8 and 4-3 in the 2016 Baton Rouge Super Regional.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (with season stats)
PITCHER
LSU: Kade Anderson, So. (11-1, 3.44 ERA in 110 innings, 170 SO, 30 BB) – No. 1 nationally in strikeouts. Allowed just one run in CWS game 1 start vs. Arkansas to lower his NCAA tourney ERA to 3.00 in three starts.
CC: Riley Eikhoff, RS Sr.(7-2, 3.10 ERA in 90 innings, 71 SO, 17 BB) – Started two of Coastal Carolina’s three CWS games, giving up 13 hits and five runs in 9.1 innings.
CATCHER
LSU: Luis Hernandez, Sr. (.274, 7 HR, 7 doubles, 33 RBI) – Hitting considerably better in the NCAA tourney (.387, 8 RBI, 2 HR) than regular season, delivered a game-tying two-out two-RBI ninth inning double in Wednesday’s win over Arkansas.
CC: Caden Bodine, Sr. (.321, 5 HR, 42 RBI)– Usually table-setting leadoff hitter, he’s batting just .231 in the CWS, but may be the best defensive catcher in college baseball.
1ST BASE
LSU: Jared Jones, Jr. (.330, 22 HR, 15 doubles, 76 RBI) – Started slow at the plate in NCAA tourney batting .200 with 7 strikeouts and 11 runners left on base in four Baton Rouge Regional games. But has has hit .409 with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and 6 runners left in the Super Regional and the CWS. Had game-winning walkoff RBI single in Wednesday’s win over Arkansas.
CC: Colby Thorndike (.314, 4 HR, 18 doubles, 48 RBI) – Coastal’s biggest stick in the CWS, the team co-leader in batting average (.417) and the RBI leader (8).
2ND BASE
LSU: Daniel Dickinson, Jr. (.310, 12 HR, 14 doubles, 49 RBI)– Batting average has plummeted to .181 in NCAA tourney, but his glovework has been near-perfect.
CC: Blake Barthol, Jr. (.283, 12 HR, 13 doubles, 53 RBI)– Batting .364 in CWS with two doubles in his four hits.
SHORTSTOP
LSU: Steven Milam, So. (.292, 11 HR, 13 doubles, 56 RBI– He’s hitting .387 in NCAA tourney with a team-high 12 RBI. Had the huge hit that started LSU’s game-winning ninth-inning rally in Wednesday’s win over Arkansas. Has helped the Tigers turn three double plays in the CWS.
CC: Ty Dooley, Sr. (.296, 4 HR, 48 RBI) – A .273 hitter in the CWS who has left a team-high six runners on base.
3RD BASE
LSU: Michael Braswell III, Sr. (.189, 2 HR, 6 doubles, 18 RBI) – His value is his fielding, along with his SEC-leading nine sacrifice bunts. Batting .047 in NCAA tourney.
CC Walker Mitchell, Sr. (.279, 4 HR, 45 RBI) – Has more walks (four) than hits (one) as a .142 hitter in the CWS.
LEFT FIELD
LSU: Derek Curiel, Fr. (.348, 7 HR, 20 doubles, 53 RBI) – Batting a team-high .424 in the NCAA tourney with eight RBI, four doubles, and a team-high 11 walks.
CC: Sebastian Alexander, RS Jr. (.314, 10 HR, 54 RBI, 27 of 32 SB) – Has been underwhelming in the CWS, batting just .231 with seven strikeouts in 13 at-bats.
CENTER FIELD
LSU: Chris Stanfield, Jr. (.303, 1 HR, 15 doubles, 29 RBI – One of the best nine-hole hitters in SEC play, he’s slipped substantially in the NCAA tourney, hitting .218, yet has eight RBI on seven hits.
CC: Wells Sykes, Sr. (.293, 3 HR, 37 RBI)– Batting .250 in the CWS, one of two Coastal starters who have yet to strike out.
RIGHT FIELD
LSU: Jake Brown, So. (.327, 8 HR, 9 doubles, 48 RBI) – While he’s hitting .370 with 10 RBI in the NCAA tourney, he’s the Tigers’ hottest CWS batter at .667 with four RBI.
CC: Blagen Pado, So. (.269, 8 HR, 60 RBI) – A .273 CWS hitter who has struck out six times in 11 at-bats.
DESIGNATED HITTER
LSU: Ethan Frey, Jr. (.331, 49 RBI, 13 HR, 14 doubles 49 RBI)– Hit .375 (five of his six hits were for extra bases) with six RBI in Baton Rouge. Since then in the Super Regional and CWS, he’s 2 for 19 (.105) with no RBI and six strikeouts.
CC Dean Mihos, Jr (.324, 2 HR, 79 RBI) – Coastal’s co-leader in batting average (.417) in the CWS, has five hits, five strikeouts, and has left five runners on base.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com