No. 10 seed Florida State is set to kick off its NCAA Tournament journey on Friday, hosting the Tallahassee regional. The Seminoles welcome No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina, third-seeded Northern Illinois, and No. 4-seed St. John’s for this competitive series.
FSU’s opening game is against the Red Storm at 3 p.m. (ACC Network), with Bryson Moore starting on the mound. St. John’s will counter with RHP Liam O’Leary, a first-team All-Big East selection.
Entering the postseason, Florida State holds a 38-17 (19-11 ACC) record. This marks the third consecutive year that FSU has hosted a regional, totaling 38 times overall. The Seminoles have achieved back-to-back regional sweeps in 2024 and 2025, and they carry an impressive eight-game home postseason winning streak.
As a team, Florida State is hitting .282 with 519 hits, 72 home runs, 105 doubles, 10 triples, 264 walks, 395 runs scored, and 351 RBI. The pitching staff has a 4.05 ERA, allowing 211 earned runs on 394 hits while recording 580 strikeouts and 203 walks over 469.1 innings.
Coastal Carolina, the No. 2 seed with a record of 37-21, enters the tournament after finishing as last year’s national runners-up. The Chanticleers have a batting average of .269 and an ERA of 5.08. Historically, Florida State leads its all-time series against Coastal Carolina at 13-1, with the lone loss coming in their last meeting in 2015.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Northern Illinois (35-17) is making its second NCAA Tournament appearance and first in 44 years, having qualified after winning the MAC. They have a batting average of .279 and an ERA of 5.65. Florida State has previously faced Northern Illinois once, securing 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, with a batting average of .279 and a 5.37 ERA. The Seminoles have faced St. John’s two other times, leading the series 2-1 since their last meeting in 2016.
For the first time ever, Northern Illinois will compete against Coastal Carolina. St. John’s and Coastal Carolina have faced each other seven times, with the Chanticleers leading the series 4-3. The Red Storm has a 1-0 record against Northern Illinois in their series history.
