2025 NCAA Baseball Super Regional Preview: Coastal Carolina vs. Auburn

In the year of the mid-major according to some (me specifically), Coastal Carolina is the team that has really grabbed my attention.

In year one of the Kevin Schnall regime, they managed to not only win the Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament but also punched their ticket to a Super Regional. As the last mid-major to win a National Championship (2016), it’s hard to ignore what they’ve accomplished, and they still feel like one of the more underrated teams remaining.

Auburn has been one of the more surprising stories this season, relying on their extremely explosive offense led by future first-round pick Ike Irish, and have proved week in and week out that they can compete and beat the best teams in the country.

But is it enough to take down a scrappy ball club like Coastal?

Series Overview

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

• Record: 51-11 (26-4)
• RPI: 5
• SOS: 20

Auburn Tigers

• Record: 41-18 (17-13)
• RPI: 2
• SOS: 2

Team Deep Dives

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

All three of the Chanticleers’ starters hold under a 3.15 ERA, the lead being Jacob Morrison. Over 90 ⅓ innings this year, he holds a 2.19 ERA with 89 strikeouts, only 19 walks, and hitters have a .191 average off him.

Riley Eikhoff is arguably the best strike thrower in the country, and while his stuff isn’t overpowering, he’s turned into an extremely uncomfortable at bat with the sheer quantity of strikes he throws, as he holds a 2.90 ERA over 80 ⅔ innings with just 10 walks.

Sophomore Cameron Flukey is one of the more projectable 2026 arms in the country. Standing at six-foot-six, with a mid-90s fastball and really strong offspeed, he’s honed in his control and racked up 102 strikeouts to 18 walks in 86 ⅔ innings. 

The piece of this pitching I like most is that it’s three workhorses. We saw it last year with Evansville, when teams are able to hold off the bullpen with great stuff in the zone, the best offenses struggle mightily. 

Coastal is also a top 10 pitching staff in terms of ERA (3.24) and WHIP (1.18), as the bullpen doesn’t get any easier to score on.

While the offense is by no means world beaters, only having two hitters with double-digit home runs, they play a ton of small ball with 50 sac-bunts this season paired with their 106 stolen bases. 

Despite their .290 average, they have the best bat-to-ball prospect in the country in catcher Caden Bodine (#34 on the Top 300 Draft Prospects list); he also holds the Coastal record for most runners thrown out in a season. 

Blake Barthol, while starting very slow, is a difference maker in the lineup with 12 home runs and 50 RBI this season, both leading the team. He can step up at any point and put the ball out of the yard as guys like Bodine and Dean Mihos set the table and move up thanks to stolen bases.

Auburn Tigers

The Tigers come into this series with a team .916 OPS, thanks to the explosive offense production across the board, having only three qualified hitters hitting under .300. 

The offense is headlined by the 10th-ranked prospect in the Top 300 for the 2025 Draft, Ike Irish, who is slashing .362/.464/.700 with 12 doubles, 18 home runs, and 57 RBI.

This offense is relentless with seven hitters in their lineup holding double-digit home runs, and five holding 40-plus RBI. Year after year, the offense for Auburn is their strength, and this year is no different. Tons of power with great bat-to-ball skills and a lot fewer strikeouts than you’d expect with a 21.2% strikeout rate.

The pitching for the Tigers is typically the bottleneck for this team and can definitely be their demise again this year. Ace Samuel Dutton holds a 3.84 ERA over 82 innings pitched with 92 strikeouts, and has turned into a true frontline starter, but note he has struggled mightily in his last three starts, allowing 17 runs in 13 ⅔ innings, allowing 21 hits, 10 of which went for extra bases.

Outside of a few key bullpen pieces in Caron Myers, Ryan Hetzler, and Parker Carlson, the up-and-down seasons many of the starters and relief pitchers have faced are definitely cause for concern.

We may be looking at a team that peaked too early, as their recent struggles in their key arms in Dutton, Cam Tilly, and Cade Fisher raise some red flags, especially when going against a program like Coastal.

Prediction

Again, I have to ride with the better pitching team. This Coastal club is so reminiscent of that 2016 team that won it all. While Auburn is known for being fantastic at home, I believe the pitching will travel and the offense will do enough against a weak Auburn pitching staff.

Bet: Coastal Carolina +115 (.5U)