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 2023 season, the Owls have had 24 consecutive winning seasons. Additionally, the Owls have had only four losing seasons in 42 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 coached a program at a university that has grown. Cooney has led for FAU baseball to enjoy including 67 athletes turning professional (with 4 reaching the majors). Cooney was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

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.

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.

NameClass 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).fausports.com

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.

Head coaches

TenureCoachYearsRecordPct. 1981–1987 Steve Traylor 7 268–107–2 .714 1988–2008 Kevin Cooney 21 748–480–5 .607 2009-pres. John McCormack 17 577–372–2 Totals 3 coaches 45 seasons 1593-959-9

Year by year records

YearRecordPct.CoachPostseasonConference 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 ChampionsNCAA 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 ChampionsNCAA Regional Atlantic Sun 2004 47–17–0 .734 Kevin Cooney Atlantic Sun Tournament championsNCAA 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 ChampionsNCAA 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 Belt201342-22-0.656John McCormackSun Belt Tournament champions NCAA RegionalSun Belt201428-25.528John McCormackNoneConference USA201542-19.689John McCormackNCAA RegionalConference USA201639-19.672John McCormackConference USA Regular season Champions NCAA RegionalConference USA201735-21-1.612John McCormackNoneConference USA201843-19-1.690John McCormackNCAA RegionalConference USA201941-21.661John McCormackConference USA Regular season Champions NCAA RegionalConference USA202010-6.625John McCormackSeason Cancelled Due to Covid-19Conference USA202132-25.561John McCormackNoneConference USA202235-23.603John McCormackNoneConference USA202334-25.576John McCormackNoneConference USA202428-29.491John McCormackNoneThe American202537-21.638John McCormackNoneThe American Total 1552-938-9 .621 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).

1999 Coral Gables Regional: Lost to , defeated and Florida International, eliminated by Miami (FL) in the Regional Finals (0–1) 2000 Coral Gables Regional: Won over , lost to , eliminated by Florida International 2002 Tuscaloosa Regional: Won over , defeated , defeated in the Regional Finals (1–1)Atlanta Super Regional: Lost to (0–2) 2003 Coral Gables Regional: Won over Florida, lost to Miami (FL), eliminated by Florida 2004 Coral Gables Regional: Lost to , defeated and North Carolina State, eliminated by Miami (FL) in the Regional Finals (0–1) 2005 Coral Gables Regional: Lost to Mississippi State, defeated VCU, eliminated by Mississippi State 2010 Gainesville Regional: Lost to , defeated and Oregon State, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (0–1) 2013 Chapel Hill Regional: Lost to , defeated and Towson, eliminated by North Carolina in the Regional Finals (1–1) 2015 Gainesville Regional: Lost to South Florida, defeated Florida A&M and South Florida, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (0–1) 2016 Coral Gables Regional: Lost to , defeated , eliminated by Long Beach State 2018 Gainesville Regional: Lost to , defeated and Jacksonville, eliminated by Florida in the Regional Finals (1–1) 2019 Athens Regional: Lost to Florida State, defeated , eliminated by Georgia

Professional Owls

Owls in the majors Florida Atlantic Owls to reach Major League Baseball: