Coastal Carolina baseball lost to Louisiana State University in the Men’s College World Series (MCWS) with a score of 1-0 LSU for Game 1, and 5-3 LSU in Game 2.
Nonetheless, the community celebrated the Chants’ effort. Fans gathered at Spring Brooks Stadium to welcome Coastal home, just as they did when sending them off to Omaha, Nebraska for the World Series.
The team’s 27-3 record at Springs Brooks Stadium built a community on and off the field. The palace was consistently packed with eager fans to celebrate and bond with the team.
Head coach Kevin Schnall said that the community’s support helped fuel CCU’s momentum throughout the season.
“You need to have a community, and you need to have fans that support your players. And this year, it’s been felt at an all-time high,” Shnall said before going to the Super Regionals. “We’re averaging 3,000 fans a game during the regional. We had over 6,000 fans a game. That plays a role in the success of our program and we’re very thankful.”
Throughout the World Series, Teal Nation gathered in all sorts of settings to support the team. While local restaurants hosted watch parties, Horry County local Spencer Valenti’s family brought the celebration into their home.
“I had a watch party with a bunch of people over: coastal alumni, regular coastal fans, regular people, all ages, even my niece was decked out in her little teal dress. We did the same thing in 2016,” Valenti said.
Valenti is a prime example of how the Chant community reaches farther than the university itself. While Valenti did not attend CCU for college, he did grow up supporting The Chanticleers while attending Carolina Forest High School.
Sports are building blocks for university outreach. As the baseball team showed that Coastal Carolina baseball is a prestigious program, their outreach was felt nationwide. While frequent tourists love to support their second-home team, CCU alumni and families of out-of-state students followed the series’ broadcasts as well.
CCU alum Allen Jenkins joined the Army after graduating in 2004 and has continued to watch and support Coastal while he travels. After serving active duty for over a decade, Jenkins is now settled in Clover, South Carolina, where he still serves in the Army Reserves.
Jenkins said watching Coastal in the World Series this season meant more to him personally than their historic victory in 2016 for multiple reasons.
“When I was on active duty in 2016, I didn’t have the opportunity to watch them as much. But now that I have a civilian job and I’m not gone all time, I was really able to kind of follow through the regional, Super Regionals and then finally the World Series.”
As loyal of a Chant he is, Coastal baseball holds a special place in Jenkin’s heart.
Jenkins attempted to walk on as a catcher for the baseball team his freshman year, but a surgery took him out of the game before the season officially started.
Jenkins was instead offered a position as a speed, strength and conditioning assistant coach, where he remained for the rest of his Coastal career. Between his work with the athletes and rooming with three other players, Jenkins was just as a part of the team as anyone else.
Jenkins said this season was specifically exciting because of the familiar faces he saw in leadership and action.
From 2001-2004, Jenkins worked with the team while current associate head coach Chad Oxendine was a catcher for the Chants, and Schnall had just began his coaching career as an assistant coach under Gary Gilmore.
“Selfishly, I think it was even more special. Obviously, Gilley, he earned his first title, and that was awesome to see him achieve that monumental goal that he’s been trying for, what, 30, 40, 50 years to do? But I think this year it was kind of even more special, just to see the guys that I actually went to school with and spend so much time with, to see them achieve so much and being in those roles,” Jenkins said. “I think it hit closer to home just because of seeing Schnall and Ox.”
While support stemmed throughout the state and country, local fans made clear that there’s no place like home.
Coastal hype bled all throughout Horry County, but Downtown Conway outdid themselves once again. Not only were flags, posters and CCU chanticleer signs set up around the town, but also a giant Chauncy inflatable at the City Hall.
Socastee local, Ben Mothershead, explained how it felt to cheer for a local college team in a league as big as the MCWS finals.
“I felt like we had a connection, knowing it was our college and our team that was playing there. Not some major league team, but something that’s actually close. [I’ve] been on the campus and watched them in person,” Mothershead said.
Mothershead said the highlight of it all was watching his high school best friend, LHP Hayden Johnson, play in the world series.
“He’s a great kid. Loved seeing him out there, seeing him on TV. It meant a lot more to me than I feel anyone would think, just to see him grow and become the athlete that I know he can be,” Mothershead said.
And Johnson did not disappoint. He pitched two scoreless innings in Game 1 of the finals.
According to the ESPN live broadcast, LHP Kade Anderson started Game 1 for LSU. CCU reached second base in the top of the first inning.
RHP Cameron Flukey took the mound for CCU. The Tigers shut out the Chants in the first inning, ending in a 1-0 score for LSU.
In the bottom of the first inning, fans were enraged to see head coach Schnall ejected from the game for arguing with home-plate umpire Angel Campos and leaving the dugout after a verbal warning.
“I think it was bush league,” Jenkins said. “Even though coastal had won it before, had that same scenario with another coach of a bigger program, whether it be like, Florida or Arkansas or whatever like that, I don’t think that they would have been so quick to throw them out. And I don’t even know that they would have been that quick to throw out Gilley.”
Flukey went on to pitch six one-run innings, striking out nine LSU hitters. His dominance on the mound kept a 1-0 LSU score until the end of the game.
Throughout the game Anderson showed why he is viewed as a top prospect. He pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only three hits while striking out ten hitters.
With the season on the line, designated hitter Dean Mihos started the scoring for Game 2, hitting a solo homerun in the second inning. CCU had a 1-0 lead going into the third inning.
LSU scored one run in the top of the third inning and two more runs in the fourth. The score was 5-1 LSU until the seventh inning.
A two-run home run by Wells Sykes in the bottom of the seventh inning brought the game within two runs. LSU went on to pitch two scoreless innings to end the game. The Tigers were crowned the MCWS champion, beating CCU 5-3.
Despite the championship loss, on the way to the finals the Chants won 56 games: the most in the NCAA season. Coastal also had a historic 2025 season, riding a 26-game win streak into the MCWS finals. With a new head coach, a disciplined program and Caden Bodine, the declared best catcher in the NCAA, fans can expect an exciting future for Coastal baseball.
