Stunned Charlotte 49ers baseball team hopes to make most of its ‘mulligan’ in tourney

he Charlotte 49ers will need a “mulligan” in their bid to win the Conference USA baseball tournament championship.

After winning the regular-season title and earning a No. 16 national ranking and the No. 1 tournament seed, the 49ers opened postseason play Wednesday with a thud, losing 7-2 to No. 8 seed Middle Tennessee in Ruston, La.

It knocked them into the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament, with Charlotte playing again Thursday morning.

49ers coach Robert Woodard, named the conference’s coach of the year earlier this week, called his team’s effort Wednesday “a very disappointing start.”

“When you get out=pitched, out-defended, out-hit and out-coached, you get beat,” he added.

That’s what happened Wednesday.

Charlotte (39-18) fell behind in the first inning and never caught up.

The 49ers managed only four hits and allowed the Blue Raiders (24-27) to get runners on base at crucial times.

“We had some opportunities to put guys away, and we didn’t,” Woodard said.

Middle Tennessee took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a home run, then added two runs in the second behind an error and a bases-loaded walk.

The 49ers closed to 3-2 in the third inning on a two-run homer by Conference USA Player of the Year Austin Knight. But the Blue Raiders added a run in the fifth inning and two in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Middle Tennessee starter Aaron Brown handcuffed the 49ers, going seven innings and allowing just three hits.

Just noting

▪ Charlotte won’t have much time to fret about Wednesday’s loss. The tournament is double-elimination, and the 49ers are back in action at 10 a.m. Thursday against fifth seed Florida Atlantic (30-24), which lost 11-2 Wednesday to No. 4 Old Dominion.

“Something that’s been important to our team all season is that we have avoided the low lows,” Woodard said. “We’ve seen this team respond.”

▪ The 49ers became just the seventh No. 1 seed in the conference’s 25 years of baseball tournaments to lose in the first round.

▪ Charlotte, held to four hits Wednesday, led the conference in hits during the regular season.

▪ The 49ers are 4-0 this season against their Thursday foe, Florida Atlantic. But three of those victories were by one run. The 49ers appear to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but Florida Atlantic is considered by most analysts to be a “bubble” team.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle