Texas Baseball Facing Coastal Carolina in Thrilling Top 10 Showdown

You won't find any fans of the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (8-0) complaining about starting the season undefeated, and posting their first 8-0 start since 2022. However, it is hard to deny that the competition early in the campaign has not been the stiffest.

That will all change in a hurry over this weekend, starting on Friday night against the No. 9 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-2). The Chanticleers come into 2026 on the heels of an amazing season in which they reached the College World Series championship series, ultimately losing to the LSU Tigers.

As the Longhorns aim to get back to the College World Series for the first time since 2022, and the Chanticleers aim to get to the top of the mountain, the two squads will clash to kick off their weekend in the Bruce Bolt College Classic.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers second baseman Blake Barthol (7) completes a double play against the LSU Tigers. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

What should the Longhorns expect from the Chanticleers?

A look at the Chanticleers' season so far -

Widely considered one of the top teams in the country entering the season, the Chanticleers have looked the part in most of their games so far. They do, though, have a pair of shocking upset losses on their record -- a midweek defeat to the College of Charleston Cougars and a blowout loss to to the Illinois Fighting Illini.

How to watch/listen -

Friday Feb. 27 - 7 p.m. CT - Houston Astros YouTube/TexasSports.com/Audio

Coastal Carolina by the numbers -

Record - 6-2

Runs scored - 55

Runs allowed - 34

Team Avg. - .260

Team Avg. Against - .216

Team ERA - 3.80

Opponent ERA - 6.47

Coastal Carolina wins this game if...

It can come overcome the injury to staff ace Cameron Flukey. An absolute stud when dialed in, Flukey is set to miss his second straight start -- forcing the Chanticleers to adjust their rotation ahead of a weekend facing some of the game's top offenses, including the Longhorns to open things up on Friday.

With that being said, they have embraced the next man up mindset and won't hang their heads. Whoever starts on the mound for Coastal Carolina knows they'll be in for a battle, as the Longhorns come into this one fresh off a 14-0 run-rule victory over the UTRGV Vaqueros on Tuesday night.

If they can get a solid outing from their starter, and the bullpen does their job, then they will like their chances to hand Texas its first loss in 2026.

Texas wins this game if...

It can get the bats going early and avoid a slow start. Yes, the Longhorns offense has been solid through the club's first eight games. As a team they are slashing .340/.452/.573 and have outscored their opponents 70-13. However, there have been instances so far where they came out slow and didn't get rolling until the middle innings or later.

This is where they can run into an issue against a stout Coastal Carolina squad. One or two cold innings could be all it takes for the Chanticleers to get going offensively and give themselves a comfortable lead. While Texas has shown it can come from behind to win, having to try and do so against a team of this caliber would be far from ideal.

If the Longhorns can come out firing on all cylinders and put pressure on their opponents early, even if it just a run or two, that will go a long way toward their potential to win this ballgame.