College World Series Semifinal Preview:
And then there were four.
As the college baseball season inches one step closer to its conclusion, we’re down to the final four teams in the College World Series. Louisville and Arkansas will each need two wins to reach the championship final, while Coastal Carolina and LSU are one win away from punching their ticket.
Coastal Carolina (+225 to win the CWS at Circa Sports) enters the semifinals riding a 25-game win streak. They’ll face Louisville (+3500) in what’s been a magical postseason run for the Cardinals. I expect Louisville ace Patrick Forbes to take the mound after his 101-pitch outing on Friday. For Coastal, they still have plenty of arms available, but will likely turn to a familiar face in Riley Eikhoff, who also started Friday.
The Chanticleers are currently a -250 favorite, with Louisville at +215 and a run line of +1.5. Our projections at www.CollegeBaseballInsiders.com forecast a win margin of -1.07 for Coastal. If it’s indeed Forbes vs. Eikhoff, there may be some value in backing Louisville +1.5 or even +2.5, depending on your book — so make sure to shop around.
Shifting to the later game, we’ve got an all-SEC semifinal in Bracket Two featuring the LSU Tigers (+102 to win the CWS) and the Arkansas Razorbacks (+350). Despite a 4-1 loss to LSU on Saturday, the Razorback pitching staff has held opponents scoreless in 24 of their 27 innings in Omaha. Most teams coming from the loser’s bracket are short on arms, but Arkansas still has a full arsenal available.
If you’re holding a ticket on either LSU or Arkansas like I am, you’ve got to feel good about locking in at least one team in the championship. And if you took my advice and bought low on Arkansas after the loss at +600, you’ll be glad to see their number is now down to +350 and they’re -130 favorites in tonight’s game. I said before that I expected them to fight through the loser’s bracket — and that hasn’t changed. I still believe Arkansas is the most complete team left and a real threat to win it all, even if the task of beating LSU twice is a tall one. But for now, just win one.
The biggest question heading into the rematch: Who will LSU throw? Anthony Eyanson, their usual Game 2 starter, only threw 44 pitches in Monday’s outing against UCLA due to a weather delay. It wouldn’t shock me if Jay Johnson gives Eyanson the ball tonight, saving Kade Anderson for a potential winner-take-all game tomorrow. It’s a risky approach when thinking ahead to the championship series, but Johnson’s been here before. In the Tigers’ 2023 championship run, Jay Johnson started Paul Skenes on both Saturday and Thursday, which ultimately kept Skenes from pitching in the final series. Keep an eye on who gets the nod, as the betting line will move based on that decision, so stay alert.
To close it out, the 2025 Men’s College World Series has been nothing short of electric. We’ve seen Arkansas’ Gage Wood toss a no-hitter for just the third in CWS history. We’ve seen the Cardiac Cards rally late to keep their dream alive. We’ve seen dominant pitching performances from Jacob Morrison and Coastal Carolina, as well as Kade Anderson and LSU. However this ends, it’s been another wild, unforgettable ride and I’m grateful to have covered it for VSiN.
