No. 10 seed Florida State will have to fight its way out of the loser’s bracket to advance in the NCAA Tournament, having seen a six-game opening-round win streak snapped in a 6-5 loss to St. John’s.

The Seminoles will face off against Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. after the Chanticleers lost late last night, 12-10, against Northern Illinois, meaning that the top two seeds in the Tallahassee regional are in the loser’s bracket. Coastal Carolina will be rolling with right-hander Cam Flukey (0-2, 4.35 ERA) as its starting pitcher.

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No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina (37-21), last year’s national runners-up, entered the tournament averaging .269 at the plate with an ERA of 5.08. Florida State is 13-1 all-time against Coastal Carolina, all in Tallahassee, including 1-0 in the postseason, with the Chanticleers’ sole victory coming in the program’s last meeting (2015) to avoid a sweep.

No. 3 Northern Illinois (35-17) is making its second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and first in 44 years, earning a bid after winning the MAC. The Huskies’ batting average is .279 with an ERA of 5.65. The Seminoles have faced off against Northern Illinois just once before this weekend, a 7-1 victory in Tallahassee on April 8, 1971.

No. 4 St. John’s (33-24) enters the regional as the Big East champion, hitting .279 with a 5.37 ERA. FSU is now 2-2 vs. St. John’s, with the only previous meeting a three-game series from March 4-6, 2016.

Northern Illinois and Coastal Carolina will be facing off for the first time ever, while St. John’s and Coastal Carolina have met seven times, with the Chanticleers leading the all-time series 4-3. The Red Storm are 1-0 vs. Northern Illinois all-time.

2026 Tallahassee Regional: Schedule

Saturday, May 30

Game 3: No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Coastal Carolina

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Game 4: No. 4 St. John’s vs. No. 3 Northern Illinois

Sunday, May 31

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Monday, June 1

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)

Game notes, via FSU Sports Info

One of three teams in the country to host a regional each of the last three years, FSU is 38-17 on the season, 27-4 at home, 10-9 on the road, 1-4 at a neutral site and 7-7 against ranked opponents. Finishing third in the ACC, the team was 19-11 with eight series wins, both the team’s best totals since 2014 outside of the extended 2021 season. The Seminoles’ eight ACC series wins included three sweeps, while four of the 10 series came against top-12 nationally-ranked opponents, three of them on the road.

Redshirt sophomore right fielder Brody DeLamielleure has a team-best and career-long 18-game hit streak and is hitting .344. Freshman outfielder John Stuetzer has 51 hits and junior center fielder Brayden Dowd has hit 10 home runs with 12 doubles. Junior left fielder Chase Williams has 17 stolen bases in 22 attempts. On the mound, junior lefty Wes Mendes, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, is 9-3 with a 2.83 ERA, having struck out 117 and allowed 28 earned runs on 68 hits in 89.0 innings. Junior right-hander John Abraham has made 17 appearances, all but one out of the bullpen, and has 55 strikeouts and a 1.04 ERA in 43.1 innings.

FSU leads the country with 38 regionals hosted and 19 Super Regionals, as the team is one of three teams to be hosting a regional for the third consecutive year in 2026 and one of five to have advanced to the Super Regional in both 2024 and 2025. Florida State is second in the nation with 211 all-time NCAA wins and 62 postseason appearances (behind Texas’ 259 wins and 65 appearances) and third with 24 CWS berths.

ACC Network will broadcast Friday’s FSU-SJU opener. While TV designation for the rest of the weekend has not been announced, each game of the regional will air live on the ESPN family of networks and ESPN+. Fans can listen to every game via the Seminole Sports Network on WFLA 100.7 FM. Each game also is available around the world on the FSU Gameday App and Seminoles.com. Live stats are at NCAA.com. A Regional Central page is at Seminoles.com with direct links to watch, listen and follow along and more. News, notes and behind-the-scenes updates all weekend are available by following and connecting with the team on social media on Twitter/X and Facebook (@FSUBaseball) and Instagram (@NoleBaseball).