Charlotte 49ers’ dream of hosting NCAA baseball regional is all but lost. What now?

What now?

That’s the question the Charlotte 49ers’ baseball team was left to deal with Thursday after their stay in the Conference USA tournament lasted less than 24 hours.

The 49ers came to Ruston, La., as the top seed in the tournament after winning the regular-season championship.

They were ranked 16th nationally and were among 20 schools contacted by the NCAA to serve as a potential host for one of the 16 regional tournaments next week.

The 49ers looked flat Wednesday in a 7-2 loss to eighth seed Middle Tennessee.

And they looked even worse early in Thursday’s 9-8 loss to Florida Atlantic, falling behind 9-2 in the fourth inning. Charlotte’s pride and emotional well-being were boosted by a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth that made it a one-run game.

“After 58 games, this team has built a reputation of being relentless, of not quitting until they’re told to stop,” 49ers’ coach Robert Woodard said Thursday.

The good news is that the 49ers (39-19) look like a lock to grab a berth in the NCAA tournament next week.

Analysts from D1Baseball and Baseball America, two of the highly regarded college baseball websites, have the 49ers in the 64-team field — although not as highly seeded as would have been the case two days ago.

But Charlotte probably can forget about being a regional host team.

D1Baseball predicted Thursday that the 49ers would be the second seed in a regional hosted by TCU, with Dallas Baptist and Wright State also in that event.

Baseball America’s Teddy Cahill wrote that Louisiana Tech, also of Conference USA, would replace the 49ers as a host team. He had the 49ers playing at Oxford, Miss., with host Mississippi, Duke and South Alabama.

Duke is among the nation’s hottest teams, with a 10-game winning streak and a berth in Saturday’s ACC tournament semifinals.

Woodard didn’t address the regional tournament host situation after Thursday’s loss, although he seemed confident the 49ers would be playing an NCAA game somewhere.

Instead, he focused on what he said was much-improved play by the team after the first four innings Thursday.

“I thought that from the fifth inning on, we had the look of a different club,” he said. “If we hang on to that look, next weekend will be a lot of fun.”

Just noting

▪ The 49ers and other NCAA tournament hopefuls will learn their fates at noon Monday, when the 64-team field and regional sites are announced.

▪ Charlotte starter Bryce McGowan was clipped for six runs in 1 1/3 innings, including a grand slam by FAU’s Jackson Wenstrom. Woodard said he expected to see a different McGowan next week.

“We don’t get where we are today without Bryce,” Woodard said. “He is a warrior, a competitor, and someone with incredible poise and moxie. When the lights come on next week, I have no doubt that he’ll flip the switch.”

▪ Trailing 9-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, the 49ers gave FAU a scare behind Austin Knight’s three-run double, a David McCabe RBI single, and LuJames Groover’s sacrifice fly.

▪ The victory was huge for Florida Atlantic (31-24), which is trying to land an NCAA berth. The Owls are not listed in the field by D1Baseball or Baseball America and probably need a few more victories this weekend to get into contention.

▪ It’s probably a moot point now, but had the 49ers been picked as a host, the NCAA regional reportedly was to have been played at the new 5,000-seat CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia. Charlotte’s on-campus facility is too small, by NCAA standards, and the Charlotte Knights’ Truist Field was unavailable because the Knights will be in town next weekend.