Backs against the wall: Coastal Carolina drops CWS finals opener to LSU
Coastal Carolina got its share of frees Saturday but couldn’t convert those opportunities into runs as LSU ended the Chanticleers’ 26-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the College World Series best-of-three championship finals.
LSU ace Kade Anderson threw a complete game three-hitter Saturday to lead the Tigers to the win that puts the Tigers (52-15) one victory away from the program’s eighth CWS championship before a crowd of 25,671 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
The gutsy performance by Anderson, the projected No. 1 pick in next week’s Major League Baseball draft, was his second complete game victory of the season and first in the postseason.
Anderson recorded 10 strikeouts and threw 130 pitches. Considering that it took him 40 pitches to get through the first two innings, needing just 90 more over the final seven innings puts this performance alongside the complete game gem now-Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes threw for LSU as the Tigers won the 2023 CWS title.
The Chants (56-12) must win Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. Game 2 to force a winner-take-all game on Monday. CCU head coach Kevin Schnall said during Saturday’s postgame press conference that Chanticleers ace Jacob Morrison will be the Game 2 starter.
“At the end of the day we’ve got to regroup,” Schnall said. “We’ve won 26 in a row. Let’s just call it what it is. The odds were not in our favor to go 28-0 and win this national championship. Again, we’ve got to respond, rebound, regroup. Answer the bell.”
Coastal got a strong pitching performance in the opener from starter Cameron Fluke, who scattered four hits in six innings of work while also recording nine strikeouts against just two walks.
One of those walks was to LSU left fielder Derek Curiel as the Tigers leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning. Flukey got ahead in the count 0-2 before four straight balls sent Curiel to first base.
Curiel advanced to second base on ground ball out by Ethan Frey before scoring on a single up the middle by shortstop Steven Milam. Flukey was able to strand Milam at first base by striking out Jake Brown and Jared Jones to end the inning. Milam led the Tigers at the plate, going 2 of 3 with a double and a walk.
“Cam Flukey is as good as any pitcher in the entire country,” Schnall said. “We were extremely confident walking into this game with him pitching, and he gave us an opportunity to win.”
Flukey said things were going well throughout his appearance.
“To go through a lineup, you’ve got to have everything,” Flukey said. “Everything was working, trusting what (pitching) coach (Matt) Williams was calling and just pounding the strike zone.”
Chanticleers catcher Caden Bodine said that’s what Anderson was doing when he took the mound to challenge CCU’s batters.
“He just pounded the strike zone,” Bodine said. “(He) had competitive strikes with his cutter and fastball and really was locating it.”
Bodine also is confident the Chants can bounce back and get the two wins needed to capture the second CWS title in school history.
“We’ve got our ace on the mound,” Bodine said. “We have really good three-day starters, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”
Schnall was an assistant coach on the 2016 Chanticleers team that emerged as College World Series champions after losing the first game of the best-of-three finals series.
“What’s eerily similar is in 2016 we lost Game 1 3-0 and a left-handed pitcher threw a complete-game shutout. Let’s tip our hat to Anderson. We’ve got first and second in the third and I think we put down a solid bunt. He’s calm, cool, collected, makes a play and get our lead out.
“Then we put down a bunt later in the game. Give (Michael) Braswell credit. That’s a pressure bunt and he throws the ball over the top, basically over our baserunner’s left shoulder to collect an out. Really big play.”
Those were a couple of the chances Coastal had to score but couldn’t get the big play of big hit to get a run home. Even with several frees — five walks, a one-base advancement on a passed ball and two hit-by pitch chances — the Chants couldn’t push across a run.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to score,” Schnall said. “When you don’t score runs, it’s very difficult to win.”
College World Series finals schedule, scores
Double-elimination; all times Eastern
- Saturday: LSU 1, Coastal Carolina 0
- Sunday: CWS Finals Game 2, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
- Monday: CWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary), 7:30 pm. (ESPN)
This story was originally published June 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM.