This summer has been full of exciting events in the sports world, but one of the biggest in the spotlight of every year has been the Men’s College World Series. The series starts in early June to kickoff the playoffs for college ball. The way the bracket works is in regions, similar to March Madness. There are 64 teams that participate and are divided into 16 double-elimination regions. One winner comes from each region to create the eight Super Regional matchups, which move to best of three series rather than double eliminations. The eight Super Regional winners go on to the official Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska at Charles Schwab Field. In Omaha, there are two double elimination brackets and the winners from them both play in the best-of-three finals to decide the ultimate victor.
In the first round of 64, the number No. 1 seed, Vanderbilt fell to Wright State after losing to Louisville, who went on to be the regional winner. In a surprising turn of events, No. 2 seed Texas also went down in the first round to UTSA, another region winner. All eyes were, however, on the reigning national champions, the Tennessee Vols, as they also went on to win their region.
As the rounds dwindled down, it came to the eight Super eight regional winners punching their ticket to Omaha.
- Louisville (def. Miami FL.)
- (8) Oregon St. (def. Florida St.)
- Arizona (def. (5) UNC CH)
- (13) Coastal Carolina (def. (4) Auburn)
- (3) Arkansas (def. (14) Tennessee
- (6) LSU (def. West Virginia)
- Murray St. (def. Duke)
- (15) UCLA (def. UTSA)
In the first bracket in Omaha, No. 13 seed Coastal Carolina coasted through, defeating Arizona, No. 8 seed Oregon, and Louisville all by three or more to move on to the final series. Key players like Jacob Morrison, their lights out pitcher, and catcher Caden Bondine had standout games to carry their team through to the finals. Morrison was a breakout star, having a stellar season and recording an undefeated record and a 2.15 ERA. Bodine contributed heavily as well, being the first Sun Belt athlete to be selected in the 2025 MLB draft after hitting 5 home runs for the Chanticleers.
Meanwhile in the second bracket, (6) LSU beat (3) Arkansas twice, and (15) UCLA to officially put themselves in the championship series. Players like Daniel Dickinson, with his improved offensive performance, and Jared Jones, contributing a .301 hitting average, fanned the Tigers on.
The stage was fixed and the finals were set on Charles Schwab Field. The first game was a low scoring match of 1-0, ending in (6) LSU being one step closer to hoisting the championship trophy. In the second game however, (6) LSU ended up being the team with more gas. (6) LSU had officially defeated (13) Coastal Carolina 5-3 in a chippy game. The Coastal Carolina head coach, Kevin Schnall and the first base coach Matt Schilling started off the game by arguing balls and strikes with the umpire, Angel Campos. The back and forth heated up enough to the point where Schnall and Schilling were ejected, taking a toll on the Chantileers morale. Despite this, (6) LSU fell into an early deficit, but pulled away in the fourth inning, when their offense blew the top off scoring four runs. (13) Coastal Caroline made an effort to come back in the seventh inning with 2 homers, but (6) LSU hung on to clinch the program’s eighth Men’s College World Series, and their second in four years. Geaux Tigers!
