FAU submitted a bid to host an NCAA baseball regional and a super regional in this year’s tournament, Owls athletic director Pat Chun said.
If selected, FAU would have played the games at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, the spring training home of the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals that opened this year.
FAU coach John McCormack would love to see the Owls selected as a regional host.
“It’s huge,” FAU coach John McCormack said. “It’s the first step to making it to Omaha. I think people who host are in the 75-85 percent clip that they move on.”
Seven of the eight teams that made it to Omaha for the College World Series hosted regionals.
FAU played two regular season games at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, defeating Florida Gulf Coast and Central Florida. Florida Atlantic paid approximately $3,000 per game to rent the facility.
The Owls submitted the bid well before their season-ending slump. FAU ultimately failed to make the NCAA tournament field, finishing the season with a 35-21-1 record.
FAU plays its home games at an on-campus stadium that does not meet the NCAA’s minimum requirements for hosting regionals.
The Owls intend to play more regular season games at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches next year and are interested in hosting annual Conference USA baseball tournament there, too.
Hosting a regional would mark a huge step forward for a program generally sent to Miami or Florida for the postseason. FAU has been to 10 NCAA regionals, advancing only once, in 2002, to a super regional by winning the Alabama regional.
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