2002 Florida Atlantic Blue Wave baseball team

2002 Florida Atlantic Owls baseball
Tuscaloosa, AL Regional Champions
Conference Atlantic Sun Conference
Ranking
AP No. 15 (Collegiate Baseball)
2002 record 46-21 (22-8 Atlantic Sun)
Head coach Kevin Cooney
Home stadium FAU Baseball Stadium

The 2002 Florida Atlantic Blue Wave baseball team[1] was the intercollegiate baseball team of Florida Atlantic University for the 2002 NCAA baseball season. It competed on the Division I level in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The 2002 team became the first in school history to clinch a Regional championship and earn an appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals, by defeating Alabama in the Regional Championship game, 6-5.

2002 schedule and results

Date Opponent Location Result Record Notes
May 15, 2002 vs. FIU Boca Raton, FL W 17-8
May 17, 2002 vs. Georgia State Boca Raton, FL L 3-2 10 innings
May 18, 2002 vs. Georgia State Boca Raton, FL L 5-4 11 innings
May 18, 2002 vs. Georgia State Boca Raton, FL W 11-4
May 22, 2002 vs. Jacksonville DeLand, FL W 4-2 1-0 A-Sun Tournament
May 23, 2002 vs. Stetson DeLand, FL L 3-0 1-1 A-Sun Tournament
May 24, 2002 vs. Jacksonville DeLand, FL W 6-4 2-1 A-Sun Tournament
May 24, 2002 vs. Stetson DeLand, FL W 10-3 3-1 A-Sun Tournament
May 25, 2002 vs. UCF DeLand, FL L 8-6 3-2 A-Sun Tournament Championship
May 31, 2002 vs. Auburn Tuscaloosa, AL W 16-11 1-0 NCAA Regional
June 1, 2002 vs. Southeast Missouri State Tuscaloosa, AL W 12-6 2-0 NCAA Regional
June 2, 2002 vs. Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL L 7-2 2-1 NCAA Regional
June 2, 2002 vs. Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL W 6-5 3-1 NCAA Regional Championship
June 7, 2002 vs. Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA L 14-3 0-1 NCAA Super Regional (Best-of-3)
June 8, 2002 vs. Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA L 11-5 0-2 NCAA Super Regional (Best-of-3)
* Atlantic Sun Conference games in GREEN. * Regional games in BLUE. * Super Regional games in RED.

Regionals

The 2002 season saw FAU receive its third bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament; its first since 2000. As an at-large selection, FAU was placed in the Regional bracket with the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Auburn Tigers, and the Southeast Missouri State Indians. The top seed of the Regional was the national #3 seed, Alabama, who hosted in Tuscaloosa, AL. FAU pulled off an impressive win in the opening game against Auburn, as both underdogs in FAU and SE MIssouri State, won their first games. Beating the Indians of SE Missouri State in the second round allowed FAU to roll right into the Regional championship game free of losses and avoiding the "Loser's Bracket" of the Regional. Host Alabama played itself back into the Regional by defeating Auburn and SE MIssouri State, eliminating both en route to the Regional championship game. The Regional Final was set as the FAU Blue Wave and the top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide. FAU, winning its first two games, dropped the first meeting to Alabama, 7-2, forcing a second game in the Regional Final for the championship. FAU pulled off the upset and clinched its first-ever Regional championship by defeating Alabama, 6-5. The win sent FAU to its first-ever Super Regional appearance, placing FAU in the final 16 teams.

  Tuscaloosa, AL Regional Regional Regional Final
                             
1  Alabama 4  
4  SE Missouri State 7  
  4  SE Missouri State 6  
  2  Florida Atlantic 12  
3  Auburn 11
2  Florida Atlantic 16  
  2  Florida Atlantic 2 6
  1  Alabama 7 5
1  Alabama 6  
3  Auburn 3  
  1  Alabama 7
  2  SE Missouri State 4  

Super Regionals

After clinching their first-ever Regional championship, FAU moved on to the round of the final 16 - the Super Regionals. The Blue Wave faced the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the #1 seed in the Super Regional bracket. FAU and Georgia Tech met at Tech's historic Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta, GA in a best-of-3 series, with a birth to the 2002 College World Series on the line. Unfortunately for the Blue Wave, the heavily favored and top-ranked Yellow Jackets proved to be too much, pounding the Blue Wave in a two-game sweep.

Game 1
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Blue Wave 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 3 9 1
Yellow Jackets 1 0 0 6 5 0 1 1 X 14 18 1
WP: Kyle Bakker (12-2)   LP: Danny Core (8-6)
Home runs:
FAU: none
GT: Parker, Remole (4th inning)
Game 2
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Yellow Jackets 1 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 3 11 13 1
Blue Wave 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 4 5 7 2
WP: Chris Goodman (8-1)   LP: Chris Pillsbury (10-3)
Home runs:
GT: none
FAU: Fiorentino (9th inning)

Awards and honors

Freshman All-American

All-Conference

2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft

FAU players selected in the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft:

Player Class Round Pick Team
L.J. Biernbaum Senior 10 San Diego
Tom McLane Senior 19 Boston
Chris Kroski JC Transfer Signee 19 Seattle
Nelson Lopez Senior 22 San Francisco
Tim McNab Senior 22 New York Mets
David Hayes HS Signee 41 Atlanta
Jim Cooney Junior 45 Baltimore
Gabe Somarriba Senior 47 Baltimore

Notes and references

  1. ↑ From 1981-2006, the FAU baseball team was called the "Blue Wave."

External links

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