Written by Eric Olson
The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — LSU won their second national championship in three years Sunday, defeating Coastal Carolina 5-3 in the College World Series finals. The Tigers also eliminated Coastal Carolina’s unbeaten ace Jacob Morrison with a four-run fourth inning.
The Chanticleers (56-13), who went into the finals on a 26-game winning streak, were swept by the Tigers (53-15) in two games. On Sunday, first base coach Matt Schilling and coach Kevin Schnall were removed in the bottom of the first inning.
LSU won baseball’s 11th national championship in 16 years and the SEC’s sixth in a row. It was LSU’s eighth since 1991 and their second-highest total ever, trailing only Southern California’s 12.
In his first four years at a school, Tigers coach Jay Johnson became the only coach in Division I history to win two crowns. In less than eight seasons, no other coach had achieved that accomplishment.
In a postgame TV interview, Johnson stated, “Our entire motto for the year was Tough And Together, and that’s what they did from August 26 until now.” There are just 12 players coming back. That group of gifted individuals became a family and a team.
After winning the national championship in 2016, Coastal Carolina was attempting to become the sixth team in history to win the tournament in its first two CWS outings and the first since 1962 (Michigan).
Ethan Frey’s RBI double leveled the score at one in the third, and Chris Stanfield and Derek Curiel’s two-run doubles in the fourth gave LSU a 5-1 lead, while five-time champion coach Skip Bertman watched from the stands.
No. 9 batter Wells Sykes hit his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning against LSU starter Anthony Eyanson, bringing Coastal Carolina within 5-3.
Chase Shores made his fourth appearance on the CWS as a result. Dean Mihos, who homered in the second inning, doubled through the right side to start the ninth inning after the 6-foot-8 right-hander retired the first five batters he saw with a fastball that reached 100 mph.
Shores got Sykes to ground into a game-ending double play after striking out Ty Dooley while Tigers fans were standing and yelling L-S-U, L-S-U. The jubilant dogpile behind the mound appeared as the Tigers’ dugout was cleared out. Bertman, 87, moved with assistance and entered the field in a wheelchair to pose for photos with players and coaches.
By the time Morrison (12-1) started, the Chanticleers had won 15 in a row. The five runs against Morrison were the most he has given up this season, and his 3 2/3 innings was his shortest start of the year.
One of LSU’s top two pitchers, Kade Anderson and Eyanson, started the game, and the team came in having won 13 straight.
After making two starts in Omaha and giving up just one run and six hits while striking out 17 in 16 innings, Anderson was chosen as the CWS’s Most Outstanding Player.
Eyanson (12-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings and was largely sharp, while Anderson tossed a three-hit shutout in LSU’s 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the championships. Seven hits and a walk were used to score the three runs against him. He had nine strikeouts.
Before Sunday, Schnall, who succeeded the departed Gary Gilmore as head coach in his first season, had not been fired this season.
Schnall rushed to the top steps of the dugout, pointed with three fingers at plate umpire Angel Campos, and started yelling at him while Walker Mitchell was at bat with two outs and Sebastian Alexander had just stolen second base.
Schnall was issued a warning and expelled for not leaving right away, according to the NCAA, who said he was debating balls and strikes. Schilling was dismissed for remarks he made while the altercation with the umpires was still going on close to the plate.
