ESPN's Kyle Peterson previews College World Series Finals, compares LSU style to Augie Garrido's teams

Coastal Carolina and LSU ran through their respective brackets in Omaha without a loss and will now clash in the 2025 Men’s College World Series Final, the first since 2019 to feature a non-SEC program.

The Chanticleers look to finish off a historic season, in which they are riding a 26-game winning streak into the Final. LSU is looking to win its second National Championship in three seasons, becoming the first team to do so in that span since South Carolina won back-to-back in 2010 and 2011.

ESPN’s Kyle Peterson joined Scott Van Pelt following the conclusion of LSU‘s 6-5 win over Arkansas to discuss the teams clashing in the upcoming Men’s College World Series Final.

LSU reminds Peterson of Augie Garrido teams

“What I see and what it reminds me of are Augie Garrido’s teams — whether you go to Fullerton or Texas and the teams that won the whole thing and just consistently what Augie was — it was doing everything well,” Peterson said about LSU. “They don’t hit a ton of home runs. You don’t have to here. Anything else they do is good. They’ve been hit by pitch more than anybody else in the country. They force you to be uncomfortable on the mound. They force you to be uncomfortable defensively when they’re on the base paths. They have the second-best ERA in the entire country.”

“And I’ll tell you what I love about the finals is it’s best on best now. You can both set your rotations up exactly the way you want to. Bullpens will be ready. It’s Coastal’s best on LSU best and they’ve got two days to rest up.”

LSU nearly had to play a winner-take-all game against Arkansas on Thursday, but Jared Jones snuck a game-winning RBI-single over the head of Arkansas’ Cam Kozeal into center field to propel the Tigers to a 6-5 win in the Semifinals.

Peterson raves about the red-hot Chanticleers

“Scott they haven’t lost in two months. It’s the middle of June,” Peterson said about Coastal Carolina. “They haven’t lost in two months. I think it only grows your confidence when you show up and play the way they have here. This isn’t just a cool story. They’re really good, and they’ve proven all the way through this that they’re really good. They went to Auburn in the Super. They beat Auburn in the Super on the road and they beat em both games. They came here — and I wouldn’t say breeze — but you go 3-0 on that side of the bracket. It is really good on really good, ace on ace to start it this weekend.”

“Aside from the fact, it’s going to be a little bit steamy; it’s going to be really really good on Saturday.”

Unlike LSU, the Chanticleers have had no problems in Omaha. Coastal kicked off Omaha with a 7-4 win over Arizona, then downed Oregon State 6-2 in the second game, then eliminated Louisville 11-3 in the Semifinals on Wednesday.

In what should be a Men’s College World Series Final for the ages, the Tigers and Chanticleers open play on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT.