When the College World Series began just a week ago, Coastal Carolina was looked at by many to be the team that could blow up eight-team CWS bracket.
After 12 total games played at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, the Chanticleers have done just that.
Riding its nation-leading 26-game win streak, the third longest in Division I baseball in the last five years, Coastal Carolina has returned to the CWS championship series with wins in Omaha over Arizona, No. 8 Oregon State and Louisville (to say nothing of the Chanticleers’ super regional sweep of No. 4 Auburn). Next up is No. 6 LSU in the finals, which get underway on June 21 at 7 p.m. ET.
The Chanticleers’ run in Omaha has been far from impressive and garnered praise from all around the college baseball world, including Louisville coach Dan McDonnell, who called Coastal Carolina an “efficient,” “well-oiled machine” team after losing to the Chanticleers in the CWS semifinals.
Entering the best-of-three championship series, Coastal Carolina leads all teams at the CWS with 24 runs scored and the second-best pitching staff ERA at 3.00. The Chanticleers now look to add to their trophy case and end a five-year stretch of an SEC team winning it all in Omaha.
Here’s what to know about the Chanticleers’ history in the CWS championship:
Has Coastal Carolina baseball won a national championship?
Yes, Coastal Carolina baseball has won the College World Series once in program history, which came in its first trip to Omaha in 2016.
The Chanticleers’ national championship was historic in several facets: It was the first national title in program history; the first NCAA national championship for the Big South (then Coastal Carolina’s conference); and marked the first time since Minnesota in 1956 that a team making its College World Series debut won it all.
In that 2016 CWS championship series, Coastal Carolina reverse-swept Arizona, winning 2-1, to be the last team standing in Omaha.
“We’re not the most talented team in America. We’re just the national champion,” former Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore said. “That’s all that matters.”
He added: “This program has been a lot better than people give it credit for. They thought we played in a small conference and couldn’t get this done. This bunch wanted to prove everybody wrong.”
Coastal Carolina College World Series history
Coastal Carolina has a miniscule history with the CWS championship — albeit a successful one.
Two wins vs. LSU would make Coastal Carolina just the fourth team since the best-of-three championship series was added to the CWS format in 2003 — joining South Carolina in 2011, Arizona in 2012 and UCLA in 2013 — to win the national championship with a perfect 10-0 postseason record.
Here’s a breakdown of how the Chanticleers have fared in their trips to the CWS finals:
Coastal Carolina NCAA baseball tournament schedule
To make the College World Series, Coastal Carolina won the Conway Regional and Auburn Super Regional with a perfect 5-0 record. The Chanticleers won the Conway Regional with wins over No. 4 regional seed Fairfield (10-2) and No. 3 seed ECU, twice (18-7 and 1-0, respectively). They then beat No. 4 national seed Auburn 7-6 and 4-1, respectively.
The Chanticleers have not lost a beat in Omaha, going a perfect 3-0 in the winner’s bracket of Bracket 1 play with wins over Arizona, No. 8 Oregon State and Louisville. In its 11-3 CWS semifinal win over Louisville, Coastal Carolina led from the jump, plating six runs in the bottom of the first inning.
For his part, Schnall there weren’t any comparisons that came to mind between this team and the 2016 championship squad.
“I wish I could give you an answer that you could really take off with, but I can’t, no. It’s different than the 2016 team. That 2016 lineup was so dangerous, 1 through 9 — power, speed, short game,” Schnall said following the Chanticleers’ win over Louisville.
“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”
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of how Coastal Carolina has advanced to the 2025 College World Series championship series:
Game 1 (Winner’s Bracket): (13) Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4 Game 2 (Winner’s Bracket): (13) Coastal Carolina 6, (8) Oregon State 2Game 3 (Winner’s Bracket): (13) Coastal Carolina 11, Louisville 3
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Has Coastal Carolina baseball won College World Series? What to know
