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Florida Atlantic Owls baseball

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Florida Atlantic Owls
2023 Florida Atlantic Owls baseball team
Founded1981
UniversityFlorida Atlantic University
Head coachJohn McCormack (15th season)
ConferenceThe American
LocationBoca Raton, Florida
Home stadiumFAU Baseball Stadium
(Capacity: 2,000)
NicknameOwls
ColorsBlue and red[1]
   
NCAA regional champions
2002
NCAA Tournament appearances
1985, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
Conference tournament champions
Atlantic Sun: 2004
Sun Belt: 2013
Regular season conference champions
NAIA: 1983
Atlantic Sun: 1999, 2003
Sun Belt: 2010, 2012
Conference USA: 2016, 2019

The Florida Atlantic Owls are the college baseball team of Florida Atlantic University which plays its home games at FAU Baseball Stadium. The Owls' head coach is John McCormack.

Fielding its first team in 1981, the Florida Atlantic University baseball team has experienced frequent success, shared respect from other baseball teams nationwide and the building of a power in NCAA baseball.

As of the 2017 season, the Owls have had 19 consecutive winning seasons. Additionally, the Owls have had only four losing seasons in 41 years of competition.

Overview and history

Florida Atlantic University's baseball program began in 1981 and has seen success, growth and change in its 41 seasons of competition. Among the changes, the most noticeable to fans would be the change of the team name in 2005. University President Frank T. Brogan led the charge for the university to create a unified, single mark for FAU's athletic programs. The student-body decided "Owls" should be the athletic logo and in 2005, the baseball team lost its previous identity of "Blue Wave." Over the 30 years of competition, FAU baseball has jumped from the NAIA, to NCAA Division II, to NCAA Division I competition, and has reached success on all levels.

Steve Traylor era: The beginning

Under its first coach and first year of competition, FAU won its inaugural game, 12–8, against St. Thomas University on February 23, 1981. Steve Traylor coached FAU from 1981–1987 and oversaw the building of a program from scratch. After only three years of existence, FAU jumped from the NAIA level to the NCAA Division II level. If there was any doubts about this young program belonging on that level, its very first season would prove any doubters wrong. The Blue Wave opened the 1984 season with a win against in-state super-power University of Florida Gators, 5–4. FAU continued to win its first five games of the season, including another major upset, this time on the road at another in-state super-power, defeating University of Miami Hurricanes, 11–10. The Blue Wave finished the 1984 season with a record of 40–15, ranked 8th in the nation in the final NCAA Division II poll.

Kevin Cooney era: Division I and national success

During the offseason between 1987 and 1988, Steve Traylor left Florida Atlantic to become the head coach at Duke University. FAU hired Kevin Cooney, head coach of Montclair State University in New Jersey. Since the hiring, FAU has won 61% of their games and transformed itself from a local power in South Florida to a national baseball program on the Division I level. Coach Cooney arrived at FAU in 1988 and began his 20th season as head coach of the Owls on opening night of the 2007 season. Given the success and unprecedented heights that Cooney has taken FAU baseball, "Florida Atlantic" and "Kevin Cooney" have become synonymous with one another. Entering the 2007 season, Cooney has won 680 games (at FAU) and 820 (all-time, between FAU and Montclair State University, his alma mater and where he coached from 1984–1987).

In his 19+ seasons in Boca Raton, Cooney has established a powerhouse program at a university that continues to grow. Cooney has led the charge for FAU baseball to enjoy such successes as, 67 athletes turning professional (with 4 reaching the majors). For these accolades and so much more, Cooney was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.[2]

On March 15, 2006, against Columbia University, Cooney reached a personal milestone, coaching a team to his 800th career victory.

On Thursday, April 24, 2008, Cooney announced that the 2008 season would be his last season as head coach of the Owls. Subsequently, on May 24, exactly a month after this announcement, Cooney coached his last game as FAU head coach when the Owls lost to Western Kentucky in the play-in championship game of the Sun Belt Conference championship Tournament.

All-time consecutive wins record

During the improbable 1999 season, when FAU finished with a school-best record of 54–9, Cooney led his team to an NCAA all-time record for consecutive wins. Starting February 19, in a 7–4 win over Bethune-Cookman College, the Blue Wave continued on to 34 consecutive wins. The streak lasted all the way to April 17, when Jacksonville University topped FAU, 2–1. The streak ended two days short of lasting two complete calendar months.

March to 800

Cooney's milestone wins:

  • 1st: March 14, 1984 (Montclair State 5, Southern Illinois 0)
  • 100th: May 6, 1986 (Montclair State 9, Glassboro State 1)
  • 200th: April 28, 1989 (FAU 3, UCF 2)
  • 300th: March 15, 1993 (FAU 4, Rowan 3)
  • 400th: March 18, 1996 (FAU 6, Northeastern 2)
  • 500th: March 13, 1999 (FAU 8, Troy 2)
  • 600th: March 31, 2001 (FAU 4, Stanford 3)
  • 700th: May 9, 2003 (FAU 12, Georgia Southern 2)
  • 800th: March 15, 2006 (FAU 8, Columbia 7)

John McCormack era: Sooner than five years

On July 1, 2008, Florida Atlantic named 18-year Assistant Coach, John McCormack, as Cooney's successor. McCormack served as Cooney's top assistant, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the 18 seasons before being elevated as head coach. With the foundation laid by Cooney, McCormack leads the Owls under intense pressure and high expectations. In 2019, John McCormack was inducted into the FAU Athletics Hall of Fame.[3]

Individual records and honors

No-hitters

  • Tom Clark, 1982
  • Jim Hanrahan, 1984
  • Luis Merino, 1985
  • Jim Drancsak, 1986
  • John Sammon, 1994
  • Mickey Storey, 2006

FAU Baseball Hall of Fame

In 2006, Florida Atlantic University inducted the first class to its new FAU Baseball Hall of Fame.

Name Class
Keith Foley 2006
Scott Hay 2006
Todd Moser 2006
Jack Penrod 2006
Nick Presto 2006
Mike Ryan 2006
Warren "Doc" Schneider 2006
Steve Traylor 2006
Kevin Connacher (1994–'97) 2007
Doug Gonring (1984–'85) 2007
Tommy Murphy (1998–'00) 2007
Pat Murphy (1981–'82) 2007
Jorge Vega (1981–'83) 2007

All-Americans

17 players from FAU baseball have won recognition as "All-American": Keith Foley (1983), Mike Ryan (1984), Scott Hay (1986), Jack Penrod (1988), Todd Moser (1999), Dan Jackson (1999), Dickie Hart (1999), Randy Beam (2003), Jeff Fiorentino (2004), Mickey Storey (2005), Robbie Widlansky (2007), Mike McKenna (2008), Andy Mee (2010), Hugh Adams (2013), Brendon Sanger (2015), Rickey Santiago (2015), C.J. Chatham (2016).[4]

Freshmen All-Americans

8 players from FAU baseball have won recognition as "Freshmen All-American": Kevin Connacher (1994), Rusty Brown (2001), Chris Pillsbury (2001), Jeff Fiorentino (2002), Derek Hutton (2002), Tim Mascia (2003), Mickey Storey (2005), Stephen Kerr (2014).

2005 Mickey Storey

In 2005, as a freshman pitcher for FAU, Mickey Storey was named Collegiate Baseball's National Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Storey's stat line for his freshman season was one of the best posted by a pitcher in the nation.

Year G/GS W-L Pct. ERA IP H R ER BB SO
2005 23/9 10–1 .901 1.70 95.1 78 25 18 23 82

Storey's 1.70 ERA is a school-record for a single-season, and ranked fifth in the nation for the 2005 season among pitchers on the Division I level. His performance during the 2005 season awarded him an invitation to try out for the USA Baseball National Team.

Storey also took home numerous other awards that season, including All-American honors, Freshman All-American honors, All-Conference honors, and All-Conference Freshman honors.

2007 Robbie Widlansky

In 2007 Robbie Widlansky won the Sun Belt Conference batting title his senior season (.430 average; breaking the school's season record), and Sun Belt Player of the Year, NCAA All-American honors, and First-Team All-Conference honors.[5]

Head coaches

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1981–1987 Steve Traylor 7 268–107–2 .714
1988–2008 Kevin Cooney 21 748–480–5 .607
2009-pres. John McCormack 14 478–297–2 .616
Totals 3 coaches 42 seasons 1494-884-9 .628

Year by year records

Year Record Pct. Coach Postseason Conference
1981 15–16–0 .484 Steve Traylor None NAIA
1982 42–14–0 .750 Steve Traylor None NAIA
1983 49–16–0 .754 Steve Traylor NAIA District 25 Champions NAIA
1984 40–15–0 .727 Steve Traylor None NAIA
1985 44–15–0 .746 Steve Traylor NCAA South Regional D-II Independent
1986 44–10–0 .815 Steve Traylor None D-II Independent
1987 34–21–2 .614 Steve Traylor None D-II Independent
1988 32–19–2 .623 Kevin Cooney None D-II Independent
1989 30–23–2 .564 Kevin Cooney None D-II Independent
1990 28–25–0 .528 Kevin Cooney None D-II Independent
1991 24–31–0 .436 Kevin Cooney None D-II Independent
1992 27–27–0 .500 Kevin Cooney None D-II Independent
1993 41–17–0 .707 Kevin Cooney NCAA South Regional D-II Independent
1994 31–23–0 .574 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
1995 27–31–0 .466 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
1996 39–23–0 .629 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
1997 32–24–0 .571 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
1998 29–30–0 .492 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
1999 54–9–0 .857 Kevin Cooney Atlantic Sun Conference Champions
NCAA Regional
Atlantic Sun
2000 43–19–0 .694 Kevin Cooney NCAA Regional Atlantic Sun
2001 36–24–0 .600 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
2002 46–21–0 .687 Kevin Cooney NCAA Super Regional Atlantic Sun
2003 47–16–0 .746 Kevin Cooney Atlantic Sun Conference Champions
NCAA Regional
Atlantic Sun
2004 47–17–0 .734 Kevin Cooney Atlantic Sun Tournament champions
NCAA Regional
Atlantic Sun
2005 37–24–0 .607 Kevin Cooney NCAA Regional Atlantic Sun
2006 30–28–0 .517 Kevin Cooney None Atlantic Sun
2007 36–22–0 .621 Kevin Cooney None Sun Belt
2008 32–27–1 .533 Kevin Cooney None Sun Belt
2009 30–26–0 .535 John McCormack None Sun Belt
2010 37–24–0 .607 John McCormack Sun Belt Conference Champions
NCAA Regional
Sun Belt
2011 32–25–0 .561 John McCormack None Sun Belt
2012 32–22–0 .593 John McCormack Sun Belt Conference Champions Sun Belt
2013 42-22-0 .656 John McCormack Sun Belt Tournament champions

NCAA Regional

Sun Belt
2014 28-25 .528 John McCormack None Conference USA
2015 42-19 .689 John McCormack NCAA Regional Conference USA
2016 39-19 .672 John McCormack Conference USA Regular season Champions

NCAA Regional

Conference USA
2017 35-21-1 .612 John McCormack None Conference USA
2018 43-19-1 .690 John McCormack NCAA Regional Conference USA
2019 41-21 .661 John McCormack Conference USA Regular season Champions

NCAA Regional

Conference USA
2020 10-6 .625 John McCormack Season Cancelled Due to Covid-19 Conference USA
2021 32-25 .561 John McCormack None Conference USA
2022 35-23 .603 John McCormack None Conference USA
2023 34-25 .576 John McCormack None Conference USA
Total 1487-888-9 .624 3 coaches

Postseason records

Florida Atlantic is 22-25 all-time in NCAA Division I postseason history (22–23 all-time in NCAA Regionals and 0–2 in NCAA Super Regionals).

Season Record (Pct.) Results
1999 2–2 (.500) Coral Gables Regional: Lost to Florida International, defeated Bethune-Cookman and Florida International, eliminated by Miami (FL) in the Regional Finals (0–1)
2000 1–2 (.333) Coral Gables Regional: Won over Florida International, lost to Miami (FL), eliminated by Florida International
2002 3–3 (.500) Tuscaloosa Regional: Won over Auburn, defeated SE Missouri State, defeated Alabama in the Regional Finals (1–1)
Atlanta Super Regional: Lost to Georgia Tech (0–2)
2003 1–2 (.333) Coral Gables Regional: Won over Florida, lost to Miami (FL), eliminated by Florida
2004 2–2 (.500) Coral Gables Regional: Lost to North Carolina State, defeated St. Bonaventure and North Carolina State, eliminated by Miami (FL) in the Regional Finals (0–1)
2005 1–2 (.333) Coral Gables Regional: Lost to Mississippi State, defeated VCU, eliminated by Mississippi State
2010 2–2 (.500) Gainesville Regional: Lost to Oregon State, defeated Bethune-Cookman and Oregon State, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (0–1)
2013 3–2 (.600) Chapel Hill Regional: Lost to Towson, defeated Canisius and Towson, eliminated by North Carolina in the Regional Finals (1–1)
2015 2–2 (.500) Gainesville Regional: Lost to South Florida, defeated Florida A&M and South Florida, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (0–1)
2016 1–2 (.333) Coral Gables Regional: Lost to Long Beach State, defeated Stetson, eliminated by Long Beach State
2018 3–2 (.600) Gainesville Regional: Lost to Jacksonville, defeated Columbia and Jacksonville, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (1–1)
2019 1–2 (.333) Athens Regional: Lost to Florida State, defeated Mercer, eliminated by Georgia

Professional Owls

Owls in the majors

Florida Atlantic Owls to reach Major League Baseball:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Florida Atlantic University Visual Standards". May 4, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  2. ^ "Gowdy, Cooney Inducted into Hall of Fame". Palm Beach post. Archived from the original on February 22, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
  3. ^ "Eight FAU Legends Selected for the 2019 FAU Athletics Hall of Fame Class". FAU Sports. FAU Athletics. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ fausports.com
  5. ^ "Former Owl Robert Widlansky claims Carolina League batting title". Fausports.com. September 17, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2014.