NEW ORLEANS — For the second time over the past three seasons, a Sun Belt program is bound for an NCAA Baseball Super Regional.
No. 13 overall seed Coastal Carolina posted an unblemished weekend in the Conway Regional, running its active winning streak to a national-best 21 games and its record inside Springs Brooks Stadium to 27-3 on the year.
The Chanticleers surged past Fairfield, 10-2, in their regional opener on Friday, May 30, and outpaced East Carolina, 18-7, on Saturday, May 31, by plating 14 runs over their final three frames to advance directly to their fourth-straight regional final.
There, Coastal Carolina squared off against East Carolina once again. The Chanticleers pushed across a small ball run in the bottom of the eighth of a pitchers’ duel, en route to a 1-0 win over the Pirates on Sunday, June 1. The victory—in front of a Springs Brooks Stadium record crowd of 6,450—helped Coastal Carolina earn its first Super Regional berth since its national championship season in 2016.
When the Sun Belt regular-season, Sun Belt tournament and Conway Regional champion Chanticleers take the field at No. 4 overall seed Auburn this weekend, it will be the seventh all-time Super Regional appearance by a Sun Belt program since the format was adopted in 1999. Coastal Carolina joins Southern Miss (2023), Louisiana (1999, 2000, 2014 & 2015) and former member FIU (2001) in representing the Sun Belt in an NCAA Baseball Super Regional.
The Super Regional appearance will be the fourth in program history for the Chanticleers (2008, 2010, 2016 & 2025). Coastal Carolina is 51-11 on the season and has not lost a game since April 22.
No. 16 overall seed Southern Miss made it three-straight regional finals in three seasons in the Sun Belt. After dropping its Hattiesburg Regional opener, 11-4 to Columbia on Friday, May 30, the Golden Eagles battled back with three-straight wins in front of the home crowd at Pete Taylor Park to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday evening.
Southern Miss’ redemption arc included a 6-5 win over Alabama on Saturday, May 31; an 8-1 victory over Columbia on Sunday, June 1; and a 17-6 win over Miami on Sunday, June 1. The Golden Eagles fell just short in Monday’s rematch with Miami in the winner-take-all Game 7, dropping a 5-4 contest to conclude its 2025 campaign.
The Sun Belt regular-season and tournament runner-up Golden Eagles finished the season 47-16, following their ninth-straight and 21st all-time NCAA Baseball Regional berth. 2025 was Southern Miss’ NCAA Division I-leading ninth-straight 40-win season.
For the 30th time in 36 seasons since 1989—and the fourth-straight campaign—the Sun Belt was represented by multiple teams in NCAA Baseball Regionals. For the first time in conference history, the Sun Belt hosted a pair of NCAA Baseball Regionals—the Conway Regional at Coastal Carolina’s Springs Brooks Stadium and the Hattiesburg Regional at Southern Miss’ Pete Taylor Park. The Sun Belt was 1-of-4 conferences with multiple regional hosts this year, joining the SEC (8), ACC (3) and Big Ten (2). The Sun Belt’s two NCAA Baseball Regional representatives trailed only the SEC (13), ACC (9), Big 12 (8) and Big Ten (4).
Regional Most Outstanding Player
Colby Thorndyke, Coastal Carolina – Conway Regional
All-Regional Teams
Sebastian Alexander, Coastal Carolina – Conway Regional
Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina – Conway Regional
Riley Eikhoff, Coastal Carolina – Conway Regional
Wells Sykes, Coastal Carolina – Conway Regional
Ben Higdon, Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional
Matthew Russo, Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional
Tucker Stockman, Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional
Camden Sunstrom, Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional
Joey Urban, Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional