AUBURN | Coastal Carolina has been to one College World Series and came home with the national championship trophy in 2016.

The Chanticleers, which have been a regular NCAA Tournament participant for the last 25 years, will play in the Auburn Super Regional this weekend hoping to go on another magical run.

Below is an in-depth look at Coastal Carolina, which is led by one of the nation’s best pitching staffs.

OVERALL

Coastal Carolina’s 51 wins and 21-game winning streak both lead the nation. The Chanticleers out-scored four opponents 30-9 in sweeping the Sun Belt Tournament, which was held at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala., and out-scored three opponents 29-9 in sweeping the Conway Regional.

This will be Coastal’s third trip to the state of Alabama this season after playing a three-game series at Troy March 21-23.

According to WarrenNolan.com, Coastal has the nation’s No. 5 RPI, No. 64 strength of schedule and a 7-6 record in Quad 1 games. Their Quad 1 wins include Clemson home and away, and Southern Miss and N.C. State on neutral fields.

Coastal is led by first-year coach Kevin Schnall, who is a former player and was an assistant on the 2016 national championship team. He stepped in for Gary Gilmore, who retired after leading the program for 29 years.

PITCHING

Coastal is second in the nation with a 3.22 team ERA. And that staff is backed up by a defense that ranks in the top 30 nationally with a .977 fielding percentage.

Sophomore right-hander Jacob Morrison anchors the Coastal staff. The first-team All-Sun Belt performer is 11-0 on the season with a 2.19 ERA. He has 89 strikeouts and 19 walks in 90.1 innings.

Morrison has served as CCU’s Friday night starter for most of the season before sophomore right-hander Cameron Flukey stepped in as the game one starter the final two weekends of the regular season and for the opener of its NCAA Regional.

Flukey, also a first-team All-Sun Belt performer, is 7-1 on the season with a 3.12 ERA. He has 102 strikeouts and 18 walks in 86.2 innings.

Coastal’s third starter, senior right-hander Riley Eikoff, is 6-2 with a 2.90 ERA, 63 strikeouts and 10 walks in 80.2 innings.

A talented bullpen has helped CCU to a 36-0 record when it leads after six innings.

Senior right-hander Ryan Lynch is 2-1 with a 0.61 ERA and seven saves. He has 34 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29.2 innings. Sophomore left-hander Dominick Carbone is 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA, five saves, 47 strikeouts and eight walks in 36.0 innings.

BATTING

Coastal is batting .290 as a team with 115 doubles, 62 home runs and 106 stolen bases, which ranks in the top 50 nationally.

CCU batters have been hit by a pitch a nation-leading 165 times. They’ve also drawn 265 walks, giving them 430 free bases on the season, an average of 6.9 per game.

First-team All-Sun Belt catcher Caden Bodine leads CCU with a .329 average and 18 doubles. The junior also has three home runs and 38 RBI. He has thrown out 43 base stealers in his career.

Senior outfielder Sebastian Alexander is batting .309 with 10 home runs, 53 RBI and 27 stolen bases and sophomore first baseman Colby Thorndyke is hitting .317 with 16 doubles and 40 RBI.

Blake Barthol is batting .281 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI and Walker Mitchell .280 and has been hit by a pitch 30 times, which has tied the school record.

Eight players in Coastal’s lineup have 30 or more RBI.

HISTORY

Coastal has played in 20 NCAA Regional and is making their fourth Super Regional appearance. CCU is 2-4 in its previous three appearances, being swept by North Carolina in 2008 and South Carolina in 2010, and sweeping LSU in Baton Rouge in 2016.

Since the 2016 CWS championship, CCU has been knocked out of the NCAA Regionals in 2018, 19, 22, 23 and 24, before beating Fairfield and East Carolina twice in the Conway Regional last week.

Auburn and Coastal Carolina have faced each other on just one other occasion. Auburn beat Coastal 16-7 on the way to winning the 2019 Atlanta Regional. The 2019 Tigers also won the Chapel Hill Super Regional to advance to the College World Series.

SCHEDULE

Friday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2

Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2

Sunday TBD