If someone told you before the beginning of the season that the FAU baseball team would have to scrape and claw just to make the final seed of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) tournament, it would have been hard to believe.
After a successful 2008 season — which included a win over the then-No. 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes and the dominance of former All-American outfielder Mike McKenna — the 2009 team struggled under first-year coach John McCormack.
This season has been a roller coaster ride as the team has struggled with consistency. After storming out of the gates by going 13-3 in their first 16 games, the team hit a giant bump in the road during their next 17, going 4-13, which included a six-game losing streak. They then rebounded from the slump with a seven-game winning streak and went 12-8 to finish the last 20 games of the season.
Just to make the conference tournament, the Owls had to win six of their last eight games against Arkansas State and Florida International University to snatch the eighth and final seed. The Owls matched against powerhouse Middle Tennessee State on May 20 in the first round of the tournament.
FAU lost with a final score of 12-2.
As a low seed, the Owls will try to replicate last year’s national champion Fresno State and become the underdog that wins the championship.
Fresno State, like the Owls, struggled during the regular season and had to win their conference tournament just to make the NCAA regionals.
As a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, they were the lowest-seeded team in history to go on and win a national championship.
McCormack has already used Fresno State’s story as motivation for his team.
“We’ve definitely talked about it, and I think every coach has had a talk about it with their team,” he says.
FAU has the same kind of opportunity to make history that the Bulldogs had last season.
But to do that, the Owls team that went 13-3 to open the season needs to show up instead of the team that lost six consecutive games in the middle of the year.
“We need our guys, mainly our pitchers, to be consistent and stay composed even after they give up a big hit or big inning,” says McCormack.
The Owls may also go into the tournament without star second baseman William Block, whose status is questionable since he is dealing with an eligibility issue. He did not make the trip with the team to Alabama, yet McCormack — who did not go into details about Block’s situation — remains optimistic about his playing status.
“I don’t know the whole situation with him, but there is still a chance he could play,” he says.
The Owls were in Troy, Alabama, May 20 through 23 for the first round of the SBC tournament.
Consistency and composure will determine if FAU can pull off a Fresno State or if they will watch the rest of the tournament from their televisions.
