GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
OMAHA, Nebraska – LSU has never lost a championship game at the College World Series.
The Tigers (52-15) can win their eighth national title at 1:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC against Coastal Carolina (56-12), after they won the opener of the best-of-three championship series on Saturday night, 1-0, in front of 25,761 at Charles Schwab Field. But if not, LSU will get a mulligan on Monday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
LSU won do-or-die championship games in 1991, ’93, ’96, ’97, 2000, 2009 and 2023. The Tigers have lost this second game of the series twice since the best-of-three format began in 2003, but won the third game in ’09 and ’23.
“This was honestly not nearly as bad as it was in the Super Regional. It wasn’t even comparable.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 22, 2025
-Kade Anderson comparing Omaha heat to South Louisiana’s. … And they did get hit batter call wrong.https://t.co/aCCE4qcPwy
Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.92 ERA, 2 saves) will start Sunday against Coastal Carolina, which saved its ace – redshirt sophomore right-hander Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08 ERA).
“They’re not over until you win two,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said after the win. “And there’s not anybody that doesn’t really understand that, at least in our locker room.”
Johnson would know. In his first season as Arizona’s coach in 2016, he and the Wildcats won their CWS championship series opener, 3-0, over Coastal Carolina. But the Chanticleers came back to win, 5-4, and 4-3, to claim their only national championship in their only national title game.
Coastal Carolina first-year coach Kevin Schnall was an assistant on that team under head coach Gary Gilmore, whose team swept the Super Regional that season at LSU, 11-8 and 4-3.
“What’s eerily similar is in 2016, we lost game one, 3-0,” Schnall said Saturday night. “A left-handed pitcher threw a complete-game shutout.”
That was JC Cloney, who threw a four-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks in seven innings through 122 pitches to improve to 8-4. LSU sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson (12-1) threw a three-hit, complete-game shutout on 130 pitches Saturday night with 10 strikeouts and five walks.
LSU picks a great time to win its first NCAA playoff game by 1-0 … to go up 1-0 in College World Series best-of-three title series.https://t.co/IWLFZXIiVN
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 22, 2025
“We’ve got to respond, rebound, regroup,” Schnall said. “Answer the bell.”
Johnson will try not to repeat history.
“They all know where we’re at and what we’re doing,” Johnson said nine years ago after winning that first game. “We need to prepare well, the coaching staff and players alike, and get ready to attack the opportunity.”
The same holds true now, but Johnson has that experience he’d like to forget.
“We have a different way that we look at things,” Johnson said Saturday. “Caution is not really a word that this group would really use. Focus, determined, task at hand, execution, preparation – it’s a little more where we’re at with that.”
OPINION: LSU ALREADY WON THIS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE SATURDAY
Since the best-of-three title series began in 2003, the team that won the opener went on to win the national title 13 out of 21 championship series (no CWS in 2020 because of COVID). Those were:
-Rice in 2003 over Stanford.
-Cal State Fullerton in 2004 over Texas.
-Texas in 2005 over Florida.
-Oregon State in 2007 over North Carolina.
-LSU in 2009 over Texas.
-South Carolina in 2010 over UCLA.
-South Carolina in 2011 over Florida.
-Arizona in 2012 over South Carolina.
-UCLA in 2013 over Mississippi State.
-Vanderbilt in 2014 over Virginia.
-Florida in 2017 over LSU.
-Ole Miss in 2022 over Oklahoma.
-LSU in 2023 over Florida.
In nine of the above 13, the winner swept two games – Cal State Fullerton in 2004, Texas in 2005, Oregon State in 2007, South Carolina in 2010 and ’11, Arizona in 2012, UCLA in 2013, Florida in 2017 and Ole Miss in 2022.
But in six of the last nine championship series, the team that won the opener lost the series – Vanderbilt in 2015 to Virginia, Arizona in 2016 to Coastal Carolina, Arkansas in 2018 to Oregon State, Michigan in 2019 to Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt in 2021 to Mississippi State and Texas A&M last year to Tennessee.
“Absolutely,” Coastal catcher Caden Bodine said when asked if he “feels good” about the next two days. “We’ve got our ace on the mound. We have really good three-day starters, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”
Schnall continued to bring up his team’s 26-0 winning streak, even though it just ended. Asked if he is worried about his team’s focus, he said, “I don’t think so. We won 26 in a row. We’re in a good space. We’re in a good place. We lost to a really good team, to a really good pitcher.”
Should Coastal Carolina win today, it will be in the same place as LSU.
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