TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois University baseball team takes the field at Florida State’s Dick Howser Stadium Friday night to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. First Pitch is set for 7 p.m. CT with the game televised on ESPN+.
“I’m so proud of them for dealing with the adversity we’ve faced this year,” said head coach Ryan Copeland. “Any team has that when you play this long. There’s been some ups and downs but I’m proud of their resilience, our ability to go game to game. We played our best baseball when it matters most and it’s a cool thing that they get to play together again for another week.”
NIU (35-17) has won a program record 35 games this season, surpassing the previous high of 34 with its MAC Tournament championship game victory over Toledo last Saturday. The Huskies enter this weekend’s regional having won 17 of their last 25 games as they play in their first NCAA Tournament since 1972.
“The more we won this year, especially against quality opponents in our league, you start to believe more. We swept Miami, took two out of three against Kent State and wound up winning nine of our 11 series in conference. The power of belief is amazing. Once we started to rack up some series wins our guys felt like they could beat anybody in the country.”
The Huskies have also set a single-season record with 277 walks drawn. It is the fourth consecutive year NIU has had a program-high in walks, going from 240 in 2023 to 250 in 2024, 259 in 2025 and 277 this season. The Huskies are 27-7 this season when drawing at least five walks in a game.
Freshman outfielder Wyatt Wawro (Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South) enters the regional third in the MAC with a .507 on-base percentage, which puts him 19th in the country. Wawro and Cole Smith (Dubuque, Iowa/Bradley) both hit .412 in the MAC Tournament, combining for 14 hits and 11 runs. Smith had two home runs and nine RBI in the tournament and is currently on a 10-game hitting streak.
Graduate First Baseman Gavin Baldwin (Nashville, Ill./SEMO) also had nine RBI in the MAC Tournament and hit three home runs. He now leads NIU with 15 homers this season, matching his 2025 total. Baldwin is now tied with Colin Summerhill for third all-time at NIU with 30 career home runs.
NIU has tied its single-season fielding percentage this year at .979, a mark last reached in 2024. It is a 15-point improvement from 2025, which has helped the NIU pitching staff improve its earned run average from 7.67 to 5.65. The Huskies had a 1.80 ERA at the MAC Tournament, striking out 45 batters in 40 innings. Senior Max Vaisvila (Villa Park, Ill./Wabash Valley College) allowed one hit over eight innings in the MAC Tournament, holding Western Michigan to one hit with 10 strikeouts in an 11-0 seven-inning victory.
“When you get to regional play you face three quality opponents. We certainly have our hands full against Coastal Carolina. We’ll see what happens Friday night. I think Max can beat anyone in the country, and I think Danny [Cihocki] and Carter [Cox] can too. We have some real dangerous bullpen pieces pitching well. If you’re going to advance to a Super Regional you have to pitch extremely well and that starts Friday night.”
Coastal Carolina (37-21) went 21-9 in the Sun Belt Conference and earned an NCAA Regional bid for the 22nd time. The Chanticleers are second in the Sun Belt with 112 stolen bases and fourth in runs with 407. Sophomore outfielder Rex Watson leads Coastal Carolina with 64 RBI and has 12 home runs on the year. Senior closer Darin Horn is 7-1 out of the bullpen this season with seven saves. He has 90 strikeouts in 65.1 innings with a 3.17 ERA. Friday’s game is the first meeting on the baseball diamond between NIU and Coastal Carolina, who reached the Men’s College World Series championship series a year ago and won the national title in 2016.
The first game on Friday featured the #10 national seed Florida State and St. John’s, which won the Big East tournament to earn an automatic bid. The Huskies will face either the Seminoles or Red Storm on Saturday in this weekend’s double-elimination regional. While this is NIU’s first appearance in an NCAA Regional in over 50 years, the Huskies are aware of what this weekend means while also sticking to business.
“Nothing changes for us. Florida State is a pretty cool place with a lot of history. They’re going to have a lot of talent. We’re just going to keep it light, keep it fun. We’ve got a great dugout with great energy. The vibes are outstanding right now. Our guys really believe. We’re walking that fine line of confidence and arrogance, but we won’t be intimidated by anybody in the field.”
Picture Credit NIU
May 28, 2026
