Marching on: Coastal Carolina beats Oregon State to score important CWS win

A pitching performance worthy of consideration as one of the best in College World Series history Sunday helped put Coastal Carolina one victory away from playing for the program’s second national championship.

First-team All-American pitcher Jacob Morrison scattered five hits and gave up just one unearned run to lead the Chanticleers to a 6-2 victory over Oregon State before a crowd of 24,490 at Charles Schwab Field.

After giving up a solo home run to Beavers right fielder Easton Talt to lead off the bottom of the third inning, Morrison (12-0) retired the next 16 Beavers batters, a streak that went into the eighth inning. The redshirt sophomore threw 109 pitches (73 for strikes) and didn’t walk any OSU batters while improving his season record to 12-0.

The victory, which improved CCU’s record to 55-11 and extended its winning streak to 25 games, means the Chanticleers simply need to win Wednesday’s 2 p.m. winners bracket game against Louisville to advance to the CWS best-of-three championship series that begins Saturday.

Coastal will play the winner of Tuesday’s 2 p.m. elimination game between Oregon State (48-15-1) and Louisville (41-23) for the Bracket 1 berth in the championship series. If OSU or Louisville wins the Wednesday game vs. CCU, an extra game would need to be played Thursday to determine the Bracket 1 winner.

The Chants grabbed a three-run lead in the top of the first inning Sunday with one of the most unusual sequences of events in recent CWS memory.

Leadoff batter Caden Bodine reached base when the throw to first by Beavers shortstop Aiva Arquette sailed over the head of OSU first baseman Jacob Krieg. Two pitches later, Bodine was awarded second base when Beavers pitcher Ethan Kleinschmit was called for a balk.

Sebastian Alexander was then called out on strike three when home plate umpire Scott Letendre called the CCU left fielder out for a time delay. After Blake Barthol worked Kleinschmit for a walk, Walker Mitchell was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Then came perhaps the most unusual call of them all.

Blagen Pado was hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count, but Letendre gave Pado his third strike after ruling he intentionally moved to be hit by the pitch. CCU coach Kevin Schnall challenged the call, but the review upheld the on-field decision, though the ball appeared to hit Pado as he stood still on a pitch out of the strike zone.

That call lost some of its sting when Colby Thorndyke cleared the bases with a 3-RBI double to right-center field that brought home Bodine, Barthol and Mitchell.

“These guys were unbelievable tonight,” Schnall said. “To do that in the first, I think it gave us a lot of confidence, especially with Jacob Morrison on the mound.”

The Chants’ lead remained at 3-0 until Talt, OSU’s nine-hole hitter, put a 2-1 offering from Morrison five rows deep into Section 134 in right field to trim the Beavers’ deficit to 3-1.

Giving up that dinger didn’t rattle Morrison; rather, it seemed to sharpen his pitch-to-pitch focus. Morrison needed just 81 pitches to get through the sixth inning and 10 more to get CCU through the seventh.

“I think I just kind of settled in,” Morrison said. “I don’t know if I was nervous the first time through the order, but after that I felt really good. It was awesome to see some long fly balls to be caught in right and left field.”

Coastal added two runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth to give Morrison a bit more breathing room through the middle innings. Designated hitter Dean Mihos led off the fourth with a single to left-center and moved to second after Wells Sykes drew a one-out walk.

Bodine reached on a fielder’s choice as Mihos scored on a fielding error by Beavers second baseman AJ Singer, a miscue that also allowed Sykes to move to third base. Sykes eventually scored on a wild pitch by OSU starter Ethan Kleinschmit to bump CCU’s lead to 5-1.

Thorndyke was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fifth inning, making him the last batter Kleinschmit would face. Mihos greeted Beavers reliever Zach Kmatz with a double to left-center that brought home Thorndyke with CCU’s final run.

Oregon State added its final run when Gavin Turley led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run before Ryan Lynch came in to get the final three outs and earn his ninth save of the season.

2025 College World Series schedule, scores

Double-elimination tournament; all times Eastern

Friday, June 13 (Bracket 1)

Game 1: Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4

Game 2: Oregon State 4, vs. Louisville 3

Saturday, June 14 (Bracket 2)

Game 3: UCLA 6, vs. Murray State 4

Game 4: LSU 4, Arkansas 1

Sunday, June 15 (Bracket 1)

Game 5: Louisville 8, Arizona 3

Game 6: Coastal Carolina 6, Oregon State 2

Monday, June 16 (Bracket 2)

Game 7: Arkansas 3, Murray State 0

Game 8: LSU 9, UCLA 5

Tuesday, June 17 (Brackets 1-2)

Game 9: Louisville 7, Oregon State 6

Game 10: Arkansas 7, UCLA 3

Wednesday, June 18 (Brackets 1-2)

Game 11: Coastal Carolina vs. Louisville, 2 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 12: LSU vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Thursday, June 19 (Brackets 1-2)

Game 13 (if necessary): Game 11 winner vs. Game 11 loser, TBD

Game 14 (if necessary): Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser, TBD

Saturday, June 21

CWS Finals Game 1, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday, June 22

CWS Finals Game 2, 1:30 p.m. (ABC)

Monday, June 23

CWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary), 6:30 pm. (ESPN)

This story was originally published June 15, 2025 at 10:17 PM.