Coastal baseball advances to the NCAA Men’s College World Series (MCWS) championship after beating University of Louisville 11-3 on Wednesday, June 18.
Thousands of CCU fans made their presence known at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. While 23,600 people filled the stadium, even more watched the ESPN live broadcast to see CCU advance to the finals.
Having won all games since April 22, the Chants were riding a 25-game win streak heading into the game against Louisville. In the double elimination style playoffs Louisville would have had to beat Coastal twice to advance. Meanwhile, the Chants held the advantage needing just one more win.
According to the ESPN live broadcast, RHP Riley Eikhoff started the game for CCU with a scoreless top of the first inning. The first hitter for Louisville reached base, but the defense and Eikhoff left him stranded.
The CCU offense then loaded the bases with no outs to start the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Caden Bodine got the team going with a single; the next two Coastal hitters reached base via hit by pitches.
Third baseman Walker Mitchell broke open the scoring with a two-run single to right field, 2-0 CCU. Right fielder Blagen Pado then walked, leaving the bases loaded again with zero outs.
Following the hot start, Louisville was quick to make a pitching change, as their starter recorded no outs in 17 pitches in the bottom of the first inning.
It didn’t matter who was pitching; first baseman Colby Thorndyke cleared the bases with a three-run double, making the score 5-0 before a single out was made. Louisville struck out the next hitter, getting their first out.
CCU went on to score one more run, ending the first inning 6-0 CCU. The score remained the same until the fifth inning.
With Mitchell and Thorndyke on base, designated hitter Dean Mihos legged out a two-out triple, scoring two more runs. CCU led 8-0.
Eikhoff faced the pressure, throwing five innings of scoreless baseball.
Louisville chipped away at the Coastal lead. After getting one out in the sixth inning, Eikhoff gave up three consecutive hits, the last being a run-scoring double.
RHP Mathew Potok relieved Eikhoff with the score 8-1 CCU.
Louisville had players on second and third base, with one out in the sixth inning. Potok gave up two run-scoring singles, letting the bleeding continue.
LHP Hayden Johnson came in for Potok and got the last out of the sixth inning, leaving the score 8-3 after Louisville’s surge.
CCU worked quickly to gain control and scored another two runs in the bottom of the inning.
After an RBI single, Mitchell walked and Pado was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, Thorndyke was hit, scoring another run.
With Coastal leading at 10-3 and needing nine more outs to advance, Johnson kept the momentum, throwing scoreless seventh and eighth innings.
The Chants scored one more run in the eighth inning. LHP Dominick Cardone was called to get the last three outs for Coastal, ending the inning at 11-3 CCU.
Still alive, the first two Louisville hitters reached base to start the inning. Carbone struck out the third hitter, got two ground balls to first base, and ended the game with an 11-3 victory for CCU.
Coastal beat University of Arizona, Oregon State University and the University of Louisville in the MCWS, outscoring all teams 24-9 and holding on to a 26-game win streak.
The Chants need two more wins to bring the MCWS Championship back to Conway for the second time in CCU history.
Coastal will go head- to- head with Louisiana State University in a three-game series to determine the best team in college baseball of 2025. Their first game starts Saturday, June 21, at 7 p.m.
