GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
OMAHA, Nebraska – LSU pitcher Kade Anderson was watching it on TV back home in Madisonville at age 11.
So was LSU outfielder/designated hitter Jake Brown at age 11 in Sulphur.
Coastal Carolina’s Michael Paez hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth at Alex Box Stadium on June 12, 2016, to give the Chanticleers a 4-3 win over LSU at Alex Box Stadium and their first trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Coastal had defeated the Tigers, 11-8, the previous day.
Two weeks later, the school located in Conway, South Carolina, with the nickname that is a synonym for a rooster, won its only baseball national championship by beating Arizona and a first-year head coach named Jay Johnson, 4-3, to win the best-of-three title series in the third game. Arizona had won the first game, 3-0, then lost 5-4.
LSU-COASTAL CAROLINA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FINAL PODCAST
“I don’t even know if they’re in North Carolina or South Carolina, honestly,” Anderson said Thursday. The sophomore left-hander (11-2, 2.92 ERA, No 1 in the nation in strikeouts with 143 in 101 and two-thirds innings) is expected to open the LSU-Coastal Carolina CWS championship series on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN) at Charles Schwab Field.
But he does know what Coastal did in 2016.
“I remember that play in the back of my head,” Anderson said of the walk-off single.
“Going into the portal last year, I had no idea I’d end up here.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 19, 2025
-Zac Cowan … From Wofford College to LSU and Omaha hero:https://t.co/egU5bZZMKH
And it was over.
“I’m an LSU fan. I grew up watching them play,” Anderson said. “Pretty crazy to be able to get this opportunity.”
Kramer Robertson, who works in the LSU athletic department now after playing Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals, was on that LSU team in 2016 at shortstop. The son of LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey recently sent out a tweet about that game.
I’m asking for a favor… @LSUbaseball https://t.co/t2HszMFBdk
— Kramer Robertson (@KramerR3) June 19, 2025
“I saw Kramer’s tweet, which is pretty special,” Anderson said.
Coastal Carolina sophomore right-hander Cameron Flukey (8-1, 3.29 ERA, 109 strikeouts in 95 and two-thirds innings) will start Saturday and try to make it three in a row for the Chanticleers over LSU. He will face Anderson, unless Johnson opts for junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.92 ERA, 143 strikeouts, 101 and two-thirds innings). He did flip his top two starters in the NCAA Regional against Little Rock.
Coastal Carolina redshirt sophomore right-hander Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08 ERA, 102 strikeouts in 104 innings) will start the 1:30 p.m. game Sunday on ABC against Anderson or Eyanson. A third game – if necessary – will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday on ESPN.
The Tigers (51-15) will play a Coastal Carolina team (56-11) with as much or more confidence than they have. The Chanticleers have not lost a game since April 22 – 4-2 at the College of Charleston. They are 26-0 since.
“It’s a cool number,” LSU pitcher Jaden Noot said Thursday. “But it’s not really something that matters.”
It will if that number becomes 27-0 and then 28-0.
“They’re a good team,” Noot said. “They’re not going to take that from anybody. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. Obviously, they’re going to compete. They want to win. We want to win, too. So, it’s going to be fun. Be a battle. We’ve been watching them play on TV when we we walk back in here (Embassy Suites lobby) sometimes. So, we know what’s up.”
Coastal and LSU each went 3-0 in the respective brackets, but the Chanticleers had more of a breeze here, beating Louisville, 11-3, on Wednesday, Oregon State, 6-2, on Sunday and Arizona, 7-4, last Friday. Coastal swept its Super Regional, 7-6 in 10 innings and 4-1 over Auburn, which swept LSU three games at Auburn during the regular season.
The Tigers were fortunate to get by Arkansas, 6-5, on Wednesday night.
The Chanticleers under first-year coach Kevin Schnall, who was an assistant and recruiting coordinator for two decades under legendary coach Gary Gilmore, are also expert at playing small ball. They are 164th in the nation in home runs with 66 to LSU’s 103 for 35th. Blake Barthol leads the team with 12. Only one other player, Sebastian Alexander, is in double figures with 10. LSU’s Jared Jones has 22, followed by Ethan Frey with 13, Daniel Dickinson with 11 and Steven Milam with 11.
But Coastal is No. 2 in the nation in earned run average at 3.20 with LSU ninth at 3.80. The Tigers lead the nation in strikeouts with 737. Coastal is No. 7 with 602.
The team batting averages are not great. LSU is 57th at .298. Coastal is 84th at .290. The Chanticleers have 108 stolen bases to 51 by the Tigers.
Coastal is No. 29 in fielding percentage at .977 to LSU’s No. 11 at .981.
In sacrifice bunts, the Chanticleers are No. 8 with 56.
The Chanticleers lead the nation in a very useful category – hit by pitches with an NCAA record 176. In the win over Louisville Wednesday, Coastal took four for the team to break the record of 175 set by UC-Irvine last season.
“You have to win the game against them. They’re not going to give you the game, based on the way they play,” Johnson said. “Their pitchers throw strikes. They don’t give away a lot. They play really sound defense. They do a great job getting the lead-off man on, running the bases, the bunting game. Those are like program traits. They just do things right, and it’s always been the case. And it’s the case now. Just a really complete team.”
The late Cal State Fullerton and Texas coach Augie Garrido, who won five national titles from 1979-2005, would be proud of Coastal.
“Their fundamentals are exemplary,” Johnson said. “They remind me of Augie Garrido and Cal State Fullerton. They play the game the right way. That’s who they are. This is no surprise to me that we are playing them.”
And Johnson, like Anderson and Brown, would like to settle some previous 4-3 scores in addition to winning LSU’s second national title in three years after
“We just needed one more base hit,” Johnson said of 2016 in Omaha.
“Ground ball over third base,” Anderson said of 2016 in Baton Rouge.
“A little bit of a heartbreak,” Brown said. “That was a great team in 2016 Things didn’t go our way that time. So, we’re looking forward t turning it around and making something good happen for us this time.”
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