There are snap decisions and then there’s what happened on Sunday at the College World Series. It all ended in heartbreak for Coastal Carolina. The team lost to LSU in game 2 of the College World Series Championship. However, the real shocker is that their coach wasn’t there with his team when the season ended.

Early in the game, during the first inning, Kevin Schnall was tossed out for arguing with the home plate umpire, Angel Campos, over the strike zone. In fact, Carolina’s first base coach, Matt Schilling, was ejected too. When Campos asked Schnall twice to go back to the dugout, he didn’t.

It prompted Campos to toss him out of the game after his repeated arguments. Schnall was visibly upset over the umpire’s calls on balls and strikes. Eventually, Campos was without their head coach throughout. For Schnall’s removal, Schilling argued with Campos and moments later, he was ejected too.

Schnall, post his ejection, opened up about it during the press conference. “I’m 48 years old and I shouldn’t get shooed by another grown man. When I came out, I was told it was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes, and I said it was because you missed three. At that point, I was ejected. If that warrants an ejection, I’m the first one to stand here like a man and apologize.”

“I’m not sorry for what happened… I’m sorry for this being over. I’m sorry for how it ended,” he added.

It was certainly a controversial call. And well, not only because of how pivotal the game was, but more because both ejected coaches would have missed the deciding third game. For Coastal Carolina, more painful than falling 5-3 short to the LSU, was the fact that they had been wronged rather than defeated.

LSU’s win over Coastal Carolina

Early in the game, Coastal Carolina’s head coach Kevin Schnall and first-base coach Matt Schilling were ejected. While the CWS final is mostly being discussed around all the chaos, LSU’s steady pitching and firm offense that handed them their second national championship shouldn’t be overlooked.

During the fourth inning, the game was tied at 1-1 when LSU decided to make things intense. The bases were loaded when Chris Standield hit a clutch single that brought him 2 runs. Well, Coastal Carolina’s starter Jacob Morrison did somehow manage to get two batters out. However, LSU wasn’t slowing down. Derek Curiel hit a two-run single and eventually Morrison’s time on the mound ended early.

That’s kind of surprising. You see, Morrison entered the game with a stunning 12-0 record with an attractive 2.08 ERA. However, Curiel got the most of him. LSU overall ended up scoring five runs off six hits across only 3⅔ innings. Would you believe If we were to tell you that it was Morrison’s shortest outing of the entire season? Actually, yes. Shortest and roughest!

Then, Coastal Carolina’s bullpen naturally had to step up. Their 3 relievers combined for 5⅓ scoreless innings. Darin Horn and Hayden Johnson gave a sliver of hope to the team after striking out three LSU batters. However, the damage was already done. It was LSU’s timely hitting that earned them another national title while dominating Coastal Carolina at the same time.