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Colby Thorndyke (16) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers vs Arizona Wildcats in game one of the 2025 NCAA Men’s College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, June 13, 2025(Photo by Eddie Kelly/ ProLook Photos)
When Coastal Carolina defeated Auburn 4-1 on June 7 to advance to the College World Series, its first-year head coach, Kevin Schnall, wanted to make one thing abundantly clear: Though his group comes from a thin band of prominent mid-majors in a landscape dominated by power-conference schools, the Chanticleers’ run to Omaha was no fluke or Cinderella story.
“I wanna make sure that’s known,” he said with a fiery tone and intense stare into the camera. “…We’re one of the most premier, most successful college baseball programs in the entire country.”
Not even two weeks later, the Chanticleers proved it, sweeping through their side of the bracket to reach the national title series for the second time in program history. They’ve won 26 consecutive games and outscored NCAA Tournament opponents 64-25. They sport the nation’s second-best ERA and scored more runs than all but a handful of teams.
“The Chanticleers are one of two teams in the entire country still playing,” Schnall said Wednesday. “It’s incredible, but it’s not unbelievable. It’s incredible but it’s not unbelievable. And it’s not unbelievable because we’ve got really good players.”
Wednesday’s 11-3 victory over Louisville only further cemented the Chanticleers’ status as one of the nation’s elite.
They scored six runs in an explosive first inning and never looked back as starter Riley Eikhoff gave them 5.1 innings of three-run ball before turning it over to his team’s bullpen, which offered 3.2 scoreless frames. Every Coastal offensive starter reached base at least once, including first baseman Colby Thorndyke, who went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in five.
“Hopefully [onlookers] take away that the team is relentless in everything they do,” Schnall said
Any other conclusion would fall short of reality.
No team in the history of the Men’s College World Series has carried a longer winning streak into the championship round than these Chanticleers, whose collection of talent vastly exceeds many of their high-major foes.
It starts on the mound, where Jacob Morrison, Cameron Flukey and Eikhoff combine to form the nation’s most complete starting rotation. Morrison in his opening start of the College World Series against Oregon State became just the second pitcher in the last five years to record 10 or more starts of six-plus innings with one or fewer runs allowed. Paul Skenes is the other.
Eikhoff and Flukey might have attracted fewer headlines than Morrison, the Sun Belt pitcher of the year, but enter the championship round with 3.10 and 3.29 ERAs, respectively.
Coastal Carolina’s bullpen is equally surgical as seven of its members own ERA’s of 3.00 or lower. Ryan Lynch leads the charge with a stunning 0.58 mark,
“Listen, our pitchers are executing the pitches, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on our pitching coach, Matt Williams,” Schnall said. “He’s an elite — there’s a lot of people out there that are coaches. This guy’s different. He’s a teacher. He motivates. He inspires. He’s demanding. He’s aggressive. He’s consistent. That’s what separates him.”
Star catcher Caden Bodine echoed the sentiment.
“A lot of these guys I’ve caught for three years now,” he told Baseball America. “When Williams came in he made some crucial adjustments to each guy and made them that much better. Coach Williams doesn’t really put up with a lot. He’s pretty hard on guy and he’s pretty detailed oriented. He makes sure every single throw is where it’s supposed to be.”
For as outstanding as Coastal Carolina has been on the mound, its lineup has shined, too, especially in recent weeks.
Coastal entered the postseason with a .288 batting average, .442 slugging percentage and 109 wRC+, all modest marks relative to the hosting field. The Chanticleers also ranked outside the top 80 nationally in runs per game, home runs and slugging, often relying on timely hits rather than overwhelming pressure.
But the Chanticleers have done exactly that, overwhelm, since the NCAA Tournament began.
They ran roughshod over their regional foes, outsourcing them 29-9 then did enough to stay ahead of Auburn, viewed widely as one of the most formidable teams in the field. In Omaha they’ve exploded, bursting beyond the pitcher-friendly confines of Charles Schwab Field to average an impressive eight runs per game, three more than last year’s entire field average per game.
Their success at the plate is thanks in no small part to outstanding performances from first baseman Colby Thorndyke, left fielder Sebastian Alexander, Bodine and others.
“It’s different than the 2016 team,” Schnall said. “That 2016 lineup was so dangerous, one through nine—power, speed, short game. This team is different. It’s more grind, inside game, first to third, little things like that. And they play really high-level defense, even though we made two outfield errors this week. That’s the only errors we made. We’re fielding over .980 in the postseason which is pretty tough to do because you’re in a lot of pressure situations.”
The Chanticleers will now attempt to win their second national title in program history after claiming the trophy in 2016 under the direction of longtime head coach Gary Gilmore, who was assisted at the time by Schnall and retired prior to the 2025 season.
They’ll face either LSU or Arkansas, who will face each other on Wednesday night with the Tigers needing just one win to return to the national championship for the second time in three years after winning it in 2023. Arkansas needs two victories to advance and has never won a title.
Regardless of who survives, the Chanticleers are no underdog. They’ve long known that. And now the rest of the college baseball world does, too.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet because one of my, maybe, flaws is I’m rarely satisfied,” Schnall said. “This is satisfying, but I’m not satisfied yet.”
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