Hogue comes full circle with baseball program while delivering final call of CWS

As Coastal Carolina moved three outs away from history Thursday in Omaha, Neb., Chanticleer fans were treated to an unexpected surprise when athletic director Matt Hogue took over the team’s play-by-play radio broadcast for the final half inning.

It has been a couple years since Hogue gave up his role as “Voice of the Chanticleers” to take control of the school’s athletic department, but it only seemed right that he be the one to capture this pinnacle moment.

And with a sound ever familiar to Coastal Carolina fans, he did just that.

“Cunningham stares in, so much riding on this next pitch, a 3-2 offering due as Alex comes set from the stretch. Payoff pitch,” Hogue narrated, setting the scene before reacting with the same fervor shared by fans both in the ballpark and following along back on the Grand Strand.

“Swing and miss! Strike three! The Chanticleers’ improbable run is complete! Teal Nation celebrate the first-ever national championship!” Hogue boomed over the airwaves as the Chants sealed a 4-3 win over Arizona to win the College World Series and the school’s first national title of any kind.

He would say later that he was somewhat reluctant to take over the broadcast, but the suggestion kept coming to him. From the team’s broadcasting duo of Joe Cashion and Garry Griffith. From fans. Even from one of his daughters.

“It was a lot of fun and I am very appreciative,” Hogue said a few days later. “First and foremost, if I had gotten the feeling that Joe Cashion or Garry Griffith had concerns or if they had never mentioned it to me earlier in the day I would have never done it. … I’ve tried to be as far away from the broadcasting side, aside from responsibilities behind the scenes from time to time, so that’s why I had some reservations. But once I got a sense from them that they even wanted me to do it, I felt comfortable going and doing it. It’s certainly extremely fulfilling.”

The Coastal Carolina baseball program, in particular, has always held special significance to Hogue.

When he started at the university 19 years ago – just a couple years after coach Gary Gilmore had arrived – one of his earliest roles was as the sports information contact for the baseball team. As much as anyone, he has witnessed firsthand the rise of the program and the process Gilmore underwent in building it to this point.

“I was with the team basically every day as the sports information contact. It’s always been something that’s special to me and obviously through the years [with] the roles I’ve played with the program,” he said. “I don’t know in a similar situation with another sport if I would have [returned to the broadcast booth], but I think my history with the baseball program administratively is why I wanted to do it.”

He wanted to do it only if the Chants looked to be in the position of closing out a win, though, and he surely wasn’t expecting the drama that unfolded in that bottom of the ninth inning.

Coastal Carolina had led 4-2 entering the final frame before Arizona got a one-out walk, single, RBI sacrifice fly and double to make it a one-run game with runners on second and third and two outs.

The Wildcats were a well-placed single away from a potential walk-off win, but junior right-hander Alex Cunningham blew a fastball past Ryan Haug’s swinging bat to end it and cap a dream season in the most dramatic way imaginable.

Or beyond what anyone had imagined, really.

The goal of Gilmore and those, like Hogue, who had bought into his vision was always to reach the College World Series. To win the whole thing, well, that’s more than anyone had imagined all these years.

“I think like everyone else, this is just beyond our dreams in terms of how everything played out,” Hogue said.

As for the way that final inning played out, he admits that’s not exactly what he had in mind when he got back behind the microphone.

“It really wasn’t anything that I had considered, but earlier that day or it may have been Wednesday before the rainout game, I had several people say to me that I should go up and call that final half inning,” he recalled. “I know there were some fans who had mentioned it, and I was still kind of debating if that would be the appropriate thing to do. But as we got into the game, it was actually one of my daughters who urged me to go do it so I thought, ‘OK, maybe it’s the right thing.’ I even had Joe and Garry mention it to me earlier in the day so I decided to go up and see if I could piece that together.

“I didn’t want to get into a situation where I got up there and the next thing you know it’s a tie game or extra innings and at that point it becomes anticlimactic. And I didn’t want to get in the way of them doing their job … but I thought, ‘OK, we’ve got this down to three outs, and it certainly could get close but I [feel] comfortable giving it a shot.’ Once I get up there they get a couple of runners on base and you start thinking, ‘Uh oh, this may not go the way we anticipated.’ And then you get a tremendous finish and a national championship.”

Very quickly, Hogue then passed the torch back again and returned to his role as athletic director while racing down to the field for the celebrations and emotions that followed.

“I made my way down to the field and just started searching for people to hug and congratulate,” he said. “And from that point on, it was a blur of emotions and just a blur of engrossing ourselves in the moment and just soaking in the moment.”

After the trophy presentation and the official ceremony on the field, Hogue stood off to the side with former Coastal Carolina baseball coach John Vrooman, who remains close to the program, as the two shared a touching moment with tears welling in both of their eyes.

While most everyone associated in any way with Coastal Carolina or the area has felt some connection to this incredible accomplishment, the College World Series title holds an almost indescribable significance to those who recall vividly the roots of the program and know intimately how much this means to so many involved in helping Gilmore make this a reality.

“He reminded me of how proud [former chancellor Edward] Singleton would have been, who was such an influence for not only him but for me,” Hogue shared on the field soon after that moment “… I knew how much he cared for me and he appreciated my work for the university and we all loved him. We just shared a moment about what it may mean to him now – it’s going to hit me again – what it would mean to him looking down on this. Because he was there for Gilley and he was there for so many people, and I think in a lot of ways he got this ball rolling three decades ago.”

It reached its destination Thursday, and with his special perspective and history with the program, it seemed only fitting that Hogue help deliver it to all the fans who had bought into the dream as well over these last couple decades … or even weeks.

Teal Nation, celebrate indeed.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Hogue comes full circle with baseball program while delivering final call of CWS."