Fresh off a championship appearance, the battle-tested Chanticleers bring a potent running game and ace Darin Horn to Tallahassee, seeking to overturn a historic slump against Florida State.
The No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee regional, the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (37-21, 21-9 in Sun Belt), are no strangers to the college baseball post-season.
The Chanticleers have been to 21 regionals, four super regionals, and two College World Series appearances. They are the national runner-up after losing to LSU in the CWS championship round in 2025. Coastal Carolina won it all in Omaha in 2016.
Drawing the Tallahassee regional, the Chanticleers have not fared well against host Florida State (38-17, 19-11 in ACC). The Seminoles have owned the Chanticleers in their series history that dates back to 1991, posting a 13-1 record. Coastal Carolina’s lone win against Florida State came in 2015, with a 4-2 victory.
At the plate, the Chanticleers are led the following:
- Walker Mitchell: .314 average
- Trace Mazon: .354 average (leads team)
- Blake Barthol: .311 average, 6 HR, 10 doubles, 38 RBI
- Dean Mihos: .305 average, 5 HR, 39 RBI, 72 hits, 29 walks
- Rex Watson: .295 average, 12 HR (leads team), 64 RBI (leads team), 16 doubles (leads team), 115 total bases (leads team); second-team All-Sun Belt
On the mound, the ace for Coastal Carolina is Darin Horn. Horn is 8-1 on the season with 1.21 whip, 90 strikeouts, 23 walks, and .230 opponent’s batting average. Horn was named first-team All-Sun Belt.
A couple of Sun Belt All-Freshman pitchers could be called upon at some point: LHP Case Bosch and RHP Jackson Smallets. Both have combined for 60 strikeouts during the season.
Coastal Carolina will take on the champions of the MAC, the Huskies of Northern Illinois, in game 2 on Friday night. The winner of that game will face off against the winner of Florida State vs. St. John’s.
If the Chanticleers were to get to a potential regional championship game against the home-standing Seminoles, they could find that environment a bit hostile with Florida State fans occupying most of the seats.
The Seminoles are 27-4 at Dick Howser Stadium this season. It has been a black hole this season for Florida State opponents in hopes of scoring a victory.
Florida State will be challenged by the Chanticleers in a couple of key areas, namely fielding percentage (.979) and stolen bases (109), as they were ranked near the top of the league in both categories.
Despite all that, Coastal Carolina, with their post-season experience, could still be a difficult foe for the rest of the Tallahassee bracket.
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