The Chants are Back: Coastal Carolina Baseball's 2026 Opening Weekend Recap

The Coastal Carolina Baseball team faced the Fairfield Stags in their 2026 Opening Day weekend. The Chants went 3–0, scoring 15 runs on the weekend while only allowing four.

(Keegan Maloney//IG: kmmedia.offical)

The Revamped Lineup

The 2025 College World Series runner-up Chanticleers rolled out the first look at their revamped starting lineup on Friday afternoon. It included new starters at DH, catcher, left field, and shortstop.

Starters in order of appearance and # of Games started

C: Domenico Tozzi, 2. Brice Estep, 1.

1B: Colby Thorndyke, 1.

2B: Blake Barthol, 3.

SS: Ty Barango, 1. Cruz Harlan, 1. Walker Mitchell, 1.

3B: Walker Mitchell, 2. Trace Mazon, 1.

LF: Jordan Taylor, 3.

CF: Dean Mihos, 2. Blagen Pado, 1.

RF: Blagen Pado, 2. Rex Watson, 1.

DH: Trace Mazon, 2. Dean Mihos, 1.

The lineup was changed around quite a bit over opening weekend, and it seems there are still some questions around what the everyday starting lineup will look like.

The defense faced some struggles, stacking up seven errors across the three games. Barthol owned two of those uncharacteristically, so it isn't something to worry about just yet.

The bats on paper looked fine, racking up 19 hits in the three games and scoring 15 runs, but all of the runs came in just three innings where they scored five in each. It's still very early in the season, so one series against a good program isn't something to worry about, but the Chants definitely need to see more consistency throughout the entire game going forward.

One thing to note is that Trace Mazon looked great hitting the ball this weekend, and it will be interesting to see where he plays most throughout the season. He started at DH the first two games but eventually moved to third base, with Walker Mitchell bumping over to shortstop. The two prior shortstops, Barango and Harlan, had two of the three worst OB% marks on the weekend, so if this were to continue and HC Kevin Schnall felt comfortable with Mitchell full-time at shortstop and Mazon at third, this could be a way to boost the offense.

Some other notable performances included 1B Colby Thorndyke recording only one hit in 13 ABs and an OB% of .077. Not a great start from the redshirt junior coming off a great 2025 postseason run, but there's plenty of season ahead for the power-hitting first baseman.

Dean Mihos recorded five hits in 13 ABs with a double, a home run, and three RBIs. Trace Mazon racked up four hits, a triple, and four RBIs. Blagen Pado hit one out of the park as well, along with Blake Barthol adding three hits himself. Jordan Taylor also added two hits with a double while showcasing his power as a batter this weekend.

For the most part, the starters who returned from the 2025 World Series run did as expected, while new starters like Trace Mazon and Jordan Taylor displayed what they could do as everyday starters.

The Bullpen

The Chants pitching staff looked great this weekend. There were some unknowns, as Coastal lost two great starters in Jacob Morrison and Riley Eikhoff this year, but many of the questions around the staff were answered.

The three-day starting rotation consisted of projected Pitcher of the Year Cameron Flukey, Ross Norman, and Luke Jones. These guys looked pretty good on opening weekend, pitching 15 complete innings and allowing 12 hits, three runs, and two homers. The two homers came off Flukey early in the first game of the series, but after the rust was shaken off, he played great the rest of the way, hitting a high of 97 MPH. Flukey and Jones recorded seven strikeouts apiece, and Norman added five to that count.

The relievers looked good as well, specifically freshman Case Bosch, who pitched the final three innings of the weekend, allowing only one hit in 10 at bats and recording six strikeouts in his collegiate debut. This brought the total strikeout count to 17 on Sunday, marking the most in a non-conference game for Coastal Carolina since 2021 against Wake Forest.

What's Next for Coastal Carolina Baseball?

The Chants will continue their season today at 4 p.m., facing College of Charleston, who sits at 1–3 after a four-game series against Rutgers. After that, Coastal will host its classic "Baseball at the Beach" tournament this weekend, which includes VCU and Illinois.

The teal will then finish off their Spring Brooks Stadium home stretch against Campbell next Tuesday before heading to Houston, Texas, to compete in the "BRUCE Bolt College Classic." They're scheduled to face big programs such as Texas, UTSA, and Ole Miss.

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