Overview and history Florida Atlantic Owls baseball

1 overview , history

1.1 steve traylor era: beginning
1.2 kevin cooney era: division , national success

1.2.1 all-time consecutive wins record
1.2.2 march 800


1.3 john mccormack era: sooner 5 years

overview , history

florida atlantic university s baseball program began in 1981 , has seen success, growth , change in 37 seasons of competition. among changes, noticeable fans change of team name in 2005. university president frank t. brogan led charge university create unified, single mark fau s athletic programs. student-body decided owls should athletic logo , in 2005, baseball team lost previous identity of blue wave. on 30 years of competition, fau baseball has jumped naia, ncaa division ii, ncaa division competition, , has reached success on levels.

steve traylor era: beginning

under first coach , first year of competition, fau won inaugural game, 12–8, against st. thomas university on february 23, 1981. steve traylor coached fau 1981–1987 , oversaw building of program scratch. after 3 years of existence, fau jumped naia level ncaa division ii level. if there doubts young program belonging on level, first season prove doubters wrong. blue wave opened 1984 season win against in-state super-power university of florida gators, 5–4. fau continued win first 5 games of season, including major upset, time on road @ in-state super-power, defeating university of miami hurricanes, 11–10. blue wave finished 1984 season record of 40–15, ranked 8th in nation in final ncaa division ii poll.

kevin cooney era: division , national success

during offseason between 1987 , 1988, steve traylor left florida atlantic become head coach @ duke university. fau hired kevin cooney, head coach of montclair state university in new jersey. since hiring, fau has won 61% of games , transformed local power in south florida national baseball program on division level. coach cooney arrived @ fau in 1988 , began 20th season head coach of owls on opening night of 2007 season. given success , unprecedented heights cooney has taken fau baseball, florida atlantic , kevin cooney have become synoymous 1 another. entering 2007 season, cooney has won 680 games (at fau) , 820 (all-time, between fau , montclair state university, alma mater , coached 1984–1987).

in 19+ seasons in boca raton, cooney has established powerhouse program @ university continues grow. cooney has led charge fau baseball enjoy such successes as, 67 athletes turning professional (with 4 reaching majors). these accolades , more, cooney inducted palm beach county sports hall of fame in 2007.

on march 15, 2006, against columbia university, cooney reached personal milestone, coaching team 800th career victory.

on thursday, april 24, 2008, cooney announced 2008 season last season head coach of owls. subsequently, on may 24, month after announcement, cooney coached last game fau head coach when owls lost western kentucky in play-in championship game of sun belt conference championship tournament.

all-time consecutive wins record

during improbable 1999 season, when fau finished school-best record of 54–9, cooney led team ncaa all-time record consecutive wins. starting february 19, in 7–4 win on bethune-cookman college, blue wave continued on 34 consecutive wins. streak lasted way april 17, when jacksonville university topped fau, 2–1. streak ended 2 days short of lasting 2 complete calendar months.

march 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 5 years

on july 1, 2008, florida atlantic named 18-year assistant coach, john mccormack, cooney s successor. mccormack served cooney s top assistant, associate head coach , recruiting coordinator 18 seasons before being elevated head coach. foundation laid cooney, mccormack leads owls under intense pressure , high expectations. during interview head coaching position, detailed so-called 5 year plan owls reach college world series. plan met following response athletic director craig angelos: has sooner that. should noted athletic director craig angelos fired in 2012 inability drive fund raising athletics department.