Chris Stanfield and Derek Curiel had two-run singles and reliever Chase Shores shut the door as LSU completed a two-game sweep of the Men’s College World Series championship final, defeating Coastal Carolina 5-3 on Sunday afternoon in Omaha, Neb.
The No. 6 Tigers (53-15) won their eighth MCWS title less than 24 hours after defeating the No. 13 Chanticleers (56-13) — who had won 26 consecutive games entering the championship series — 1-0 in the opener.
Starter Anthony Eyanson (12-2) allowed seven hits and three runs, striking out nine and walking one in 6 1/3 innings, and Shores pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit relief, striking out four.
“Everybody came together as a group and (still) continued to be ourselves,” Eyanson told ESPN postgame. “We didn’t have to change anything (in Omaha).”
Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall and first base coach Matt Schilling were ejected in the bottom of the first inning, with associate head coach Chad Oxendine taking over as acting head coach. Per the NCAA, Schnall was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and Schilling was tossed for comments made while arguing with the umpires.
“There were 25,000 people shouting and I vaguely hear a warning issued,” Schnall recounted later. “As a head coach I have a right to get an explanation of why we were warned. A grown man shooed me. I asked, ‘What was the warning?’ He said it was for arguing balls and strikes. I said, ‘That’s because you missed.’ Then, ejection.
“If you’re an umpire your job is to manage the national championship game with poise, calmness and a little bit of tolerance.”
Coastal Carolina fell short in its quest for a second MCWS championship. The Chanticleers won in 2016.
“I’m a little gutted because the talk is going to be about the ejection and not the team, and that’s not right,” Schnall said. “The front row should belong to the 2025 Coast Carolina team and not what happened in the first inning.”
Dean Mihos homered to left field with two outs in the bottom of the second inning to give the Chanticleers their first run of the series.
LSU tied the score in the third when Daniel Dickinson led off with a single and scored two outs later on an Ethan Frey double.
The Tigers took a 5-1 lead in the fourth on the two-run hits by Stanfield and Curiel, and Coastal Carolina starter Jacob Morrison (12-1) was relieved by Hayden Johnson. In 3 2/3 innings, Morrison gave up five runs on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
The Chanticleers got within two runs in the seventh when Ty Dooley was hit by a pitch and Wells Sykes hit a two-run homer. One out later, Shores relieved Eyanson and mowed down Coastal Carolina the rest of the way, notching his second save of the season.
“Our motto all season was ‘tough and together,'” coach Jay Johnson said after guiding the Tigers to their second title in three seasons. “We only had 10 returning players, 10 from the transfer portal, two from jucos and 10 freshmen. They didn’t just become a team, they became a family.”
–Field Level Media
