{"id":147994,"date":"2025-06-21T17:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/147994\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T17:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T17:41:11","slug":"how-coastal-carolina-and-kevin-schnalls-shared-belief-took-them-to-the-college-world-series-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/147994\/","title":{"rendered":"How Coastal Carolina and Kevin Schnall\u2019s shared belief took them to the College World Series finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of Coastal Carolina vs. LSU Game 1<\/a> from the 2025 Men\u2019s College World Series<\/a> in Omaha.<\/p>\n

OMAHA, Neb. \u2014 Not long after Coastal Carolina won a national championship in 2016, in its first trip to the College World Series, Matt Hogue was standing in line at Disneyland to take a photo of his two daughters with Ariel the mermaid when his phone rang.<\/p>\n

It was Kevin Schnall, then the Chanticleers\u2019 assistant head coach,<\/a> whom Hogue, the Coastal athletic director at the time, and coach Gary Gilmore had lured back to his alma mater a year earlier. An understanding existed that Schnall, a former second-team All-America catcher and 12-year Coastal assistant before he spent three seasons on the bench at UCF, would take control of the program when Gilmore retired.<\/p>\n

But the unexpected national championship had accelerated timelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis star was rising,\u201d Hogue said.<\/p>\n

Schnall was being pursued as a head coach, he told Hogue on that call. They had grown up together at Coastal. Hogue started work in the athletic department as a media relations assistant in charge of baseball at the same time Schnall arrived as a student-athlete in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the one who gave me the recognition that allowed me to become an All-American,\u201d Schnall said.<\/p>\n

Hogue asked Schnall to hold tight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Coastal Carolina has won 26 consecutive games, the third-longest Division I winning streak of the past five years. (Steven Branscombe \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Look Kevin, we need to keep you at Coastal,\u2019\u201d Hogue said. \u201c\u2018Give me about 24 hours to figure some things out, and I\u2019ll put together a plan. I\u2019ve got an idea that might work for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Schnall stayed. Nine years later, he\u2019s leading Coastal Carolina into the CWS championship series against LSU, starting Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, as the only rookie head coach in college baseball history to win his first eight games in the NCAA postseason.<\/p>\n

Coastal Carolina (56-11) has won 26 consecutive games, the third-longest Division I winning streak of the past five years. Schnall, 48, joins Dan McDonnell of Louisville and legends Mike Martin of Florida State and Cliff Gustafson of Texas as the only coaches to lead teams to the CWS in their first seasons as a head coach.<\/p>\n

In his opening statement to the media Wednesday after Coastal completed its third systematic dispatching of an opponent in Omaha \u2014 an 11-3 win against Louisville \u2014 Schnall said that he was \u201cforever grateful\u201d to Hogue.<\/p>\n

The 2016 interruption at Disneyland led to a restructured contract for Schnall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put a little teeth into it,\u201d Hogue said. \u201cWe put it hard and fast that if Gilly does not retire by (2021), we will pay you like a head coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

For four seasons before this year, that\u2019s how it went. Schnall earned a salary on par with top coaches in the Sun Belt. Gilmore announced at the end of 2023 that 2024, his 29th season, would be his last in the dugout.<\/p>\n

Schnall received a long runway. In reality, he had nearly a decade to get ready. It explains in part how Schnall blew past Martin (51 wins in 1980) and Mike Batesole (52 at Cal State Northridge in 1996) to record the most wins ever by a first-year DI head coach.<\/p>\n

What the college baseball community did not recognize in Schnall before this season, Hogue did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not known anyone who is more meticulously detailed and organized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hogue, former chair of the DI baseball committee, stepped away last June from administration to direct the center for sports broadcasting at Coastal Carolina\u2019s Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts.<\/p>\n

He journeyed to Omaha last week for the start of Coastal\u2019s first trip since the magic of 2016. Hogue is back for the best-of-three championship series to watch the Chants attempt to make history as the first team since Michigan in 1962 to win a national championship in its first two visits.<\/p>\n

LSU seeks its eighth title after it stunned Arkansas with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday. The dramatic win allowed for a two-day break as both squads swept their sides of the bracket.<\/p>\n

A Saturday night pitching matchup awaits with top MLB prospect Kade Anderson (11-1, 3.44 ERA) for the Tigers against Cameron Flukey (7-1, 3.29).<\/p>\n

Coastal ace Jacob Morrison (12-0, 2.08) is ready for Game 2, Sunday at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

For Coastal Carolina, Schnall sets the tone.<\/p>\n

Imagine another first-year coach publicly going after Florida\u2019s Kevin O\u2019Sullivan \u2014 the nine-time CWS coach and 2017 national champion \u2014 as Schnall did when O\u2019Sullivan ranted at administrators over a delayed start three weeks ago in an NCAA-regional game hosted by Coastal.<\/p>\n

There was an incident that occurred prior to the Florida\/ECU game that had people talking.<\/p>\n

Reportedly Florida HC Kevin O’Sullivan was upset that the game was moved.<\/p>\n

He was seen ripping into CCU officials & NCAA Officials <\/p>\n

CCU Kevin Schnall made sure to address the matter pic.twitter.com\/jQS5vvlJPO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Brandon Dunn (@BDunnsports) June 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Schnall called O\u2019Sullivan a \u201cbully\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful.\u201d O\u2019Sullivan later issued an apology.<\/a><\/p>\n

Pushed by their coach, Coastal backs down to no one. As the No. 13 seed in the 64-team postseason, the Chants traveled to No. 4 Auburn for super-regional play. They swept the Tigers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were picked fourth in the Sun Belt,\u201d Schnall said. \u201cNo problem. We\u2019ll move forward, keep our head down and keep grinding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coastal batters have been hit by 176 pitches this season, an NCAA record.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys are obsessed with getting on base,\u201d Schnall said.<\/p>\n

Coastal has scored in the first inning of every game in this postseason. It jumped on Louisville for six runs Wednesday in the opening frame. Center fielder Wells Sykes, a Citadel transfer who bats ninth in the Chants\u2019 lineup, has reached base safely in all 26 victories during the Coastal streak.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take a ton of pride in that,\u201d Sykes said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to go up there and do my job for the team. That\u2019s what makes us successful. There\u2019s nobody selfish, one through nine, and the bench players, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people get in the lineup, they know what they need to do. They can\u2019t be selfish. It\u2019s relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Chanticleers go down against sixth-seeded LSU, which has history on its side and an edge in depth and talent, it\u2019s sure to be a fight.<\/p>\n

Schnall doesn\u2019t know another way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a bunch of humble dogs in that dugout that are willing to do whatever it takes to win,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re one of two teams in the country still playing today.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo: \u00a0Mickey Welsh \/ Advertiser \/ USA Today Network via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n