OMAHA, Neb. — The College World Series finals are set. LSU will meet Coastal Carolina for the national championship in a best-of-three series to start Saturday after both squads won Wednesday to sweep their sides of the eight-team bracket.
LSU, the No. 6 seed, won 6-5 in walk-off fashion with three runs in the bottom of the ninth — all with two outs — against third-seeded Arkansas. Jared Jones delivered the game-winning hit against reliever Aiden Jimenez, a line drive that bounced into center field off the glove of leaping second baseman Cam Kozeal to score Luis Hernandez from second base.
Four pitches earlier, Hernandez stroked a liner toward Charles Davalan in left field against freshman reliever Cole Gibler. The ball struck Davalan’s glove and bounced some 20 feet toward the foul line as Davalan lowered his body to attempt a game-winning catch. Ethan Frey scored from second base, and Steven Milam raced around from first to even the game.
“I would coach this team forever,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “I’ve been telling them that since March or April.”
HOW ‘BOUT THEM FIGHTING TIGERS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/AQY8wDrcd7
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) June 19, 2025
Arkansas had taken the lead at 5-3 in the top of the ninth on a one-out single by Justin Thomas that scored two runs.
The heartbreak is nothing new for the Razorbacks, who have failed to win a championship in 12 trips to the CWS, including eight visits under coach Dave Van Horn. His team in 2018 lost a shot at the title when a foul pop-up dropped between three defenders with two outs in the ninth inning against Oregon State.
“This means more to me,” Johnson said, “because of the respect I have for them. … What a game. I don’t know if ESPN Classic is still around. (But) they should play that game on loop for a week.”
The Tigers have won seven national championships, most recently in 2023 under Johnson, then a first-year coach at the SEC power program. He’s back for another shot with LSU in his third season after it dispatched the Razorbacks twice in five days at Charles Schwab Field.
Coastal Carolina is aiming for a second title in its second trip to the CWS. The Chanticleers beat Louisville 11-3 in the early game Wednesday, capitalizing on a six-run first inning.
Coach Kevin Schnall took over the program this season after 21 years as an assistant coach at the Conway, S.C., school, champion of the Sun Belt Conference. Schnall replaced Gary Gilmore, who led Coastal to a national championship in 2016.
It has won 26 consecutive games, a school record.
“It’s incredible, but it’s not unbelievable,” Schnall said. “Because we’ve got really good players.”
(Photo: Steven Branscombe / Imagn Images)