LSU Tigers baseball and Jay Johnson both have a new chance for revenge in Men's College World Series finals vs. Coastal Carolina

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Adam Holt | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 8:20 AM ET

The stage is set. We know who will play for the 2025 Men's College World Series title. The LSU Tigers will be there, and they'll see a somewhat familiar foe that does not come from the SEC.

The Bayou Bengals will face the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the MCWS finals. The Chants are riding high on a 26-game winning streak. Meanwhile, LSU is fresh off a magical ninth-inning comeback victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks.

This trip to the finals against Coastal Carolina will pull at the heartstrings for the Tigers and their head coach, Jay Johnson.

LSU looks for revenge against Coastal

During Coastal's sole College World Series national championship run in 2016, they took out LSU in Super Regionals. The Chants beat the Tigers, 11-8 and 4-3, to earn a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

Alas the rematch is here pic.twitter.com/zafoiCcqva
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 19, 2025

It was a heartbreaking series for LSU, who was ranked as the number eight team in the country entering postseason play. Meanwhile, the Chanticleers were unranked but flew through Regional and Supers play.

That series victory over the Tigers led them to the final eight, where they ended up in the finals against none other than... the current leader of LSU's baseball program.

Jay Johnson's connection to the Chanticleers

Jay Johnson was on the opposing side of Coastal's 2016 MCWS finals series while he was the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats.

Jay Johnson is here again.... vs Coastal Carolina. pic.twitter.com/1zAbl1yjZ7
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 19, 2025

Johnson's Arizona squad actually took the first game of the three-game set in the finals. Coastal stormed back to win the final two matchups, though, earning the first baseball national title for the program. Both victories by Coastal over the Wildcats were by one run.

In 2021, Johnson left the Arizona program to join LSU as their head coach. Now, he will have a fresh opportunity to get back at the Chanticleers for the heartbreak they caused him and his team just under a decade ago.

The 2025 Men's College World Series finals will begin on Saturday, June 21st. It will be a best of three. LSU will be looking to win their second national title on the diamond in the past three years.