CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina baseball opened the 2026 season with a 5–3 victory over Fairfield on Thursday.

In front of 5,499 fans, the largest Opening Day crowd in Springs Brooks Stadium history and the fourth-largest home attendance in program history, the Chanticleers (1-0) used a five-run sixth inning to secure the season-opening win.

Trailing 2-0 through five innings, Coastal Carolina broke through in the sixth. Walker Mitchell reached to begin the inning before Jordan Taylor drew a walk. A few batters later, Dean Mihos delivered an RBI single through the right side to get the Chanticleers on the board. Trace Mazon followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.

A wild pitch allowed Mihos to score and give Coastal its first lead of the game. Later in the inning, Domenico Tozzi reached on a fielding error, allowing two more runs to score and extending the Chanticleer advantage to 5-2.

Coastal Carolina finished with seven hits. Mihos and Mazon led the way with two hits apiece, while each drove in one run. Taylor added a double, and Blake Barthol reached base four times with three walks and a single.

On the mound, Cameron Flukey made the Opening Day start and worked 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Darin Horn earned the win (1-0) after delivering 3.1 innings in relief, allowing one unearned run and striking out four.

Due to expected inclement weather in the Conway area on Sunday, Coastal Carolina and Fairfield will now play a doubleheader on Saturday at Springs Brooks Stadium. First pitch of Game 1 is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with Game 2 set to begin approximately 45 minutes following the conclusion of the opener.