Coastal-Arizona CWS finale all set for Thursday afternoon

After a day full of anticipation and buildup as two unlikely underdogs in Coastal Carolina and Arizona – for different reasons – awaited the finale of their best-of-three College World Series championship showdown, the weather stole the show.

The decisive College World Series game between the Chanticleers and Wildcats was postponed to 1 p.m. Thursday, set to be broadcast on ESPNU.

----- CWS UPDATES: Follow Game 3 between Coastal Carolina and Arizona here -----

Before the postponement, the pitching announcements were the most interesting part of the evening.

With most expecting Coastal Carolina to start junior ace Andrew Beckwith on four full days rest after the Blythewood High alum has already thrown two complete games in the College World Series, the Chanticleers (54-18) instead announced fellow junior right-hander Alex Cunningham as their starter, despite him being on just three full days rest.

That might have caught the Wildcats (49-23) by surprise as Coastal Carolina announced its starting pitcher close to the deadline for such information to be shared.

Arizona, meanwhile, intended to pitch junior right hander Bobby Dalbec (11-5, 2.65), who held Oklahoma State to one run on four hits and two walks in a 5-1 win on Saturday to advance to this championship series.

It remains to be seen if that pitching matchup holds with both staffs getting a day of rest.

Both of these teams battled back through the College World Series losers bracket and then split the first two games of this best-of-three series. Coastal Carolina has been a popular underdog story among fans in Omaha, as it’s making the program’s first-ever CWS appearance and looking to become the first team since 1956 to win the whole thing in its debut.

Arizona, meanwhile, is in its first year under coach Jay Johnson after missing the NCAA postseason entirely the past three years. The Wildcats have four national championships in program history, though, with the most recent coming in 2012.

Either way, there’s a feel-good story to be had for the winner.

But for now, everybody waits.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Coastal-Arizona CWS finale all set for Thursday afternoon."