1961 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament

1961 NCAA University Division
Baseball Tournament
Season	1961
Teams	25
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium; Omaha, NE;
Champions	Southern California (3rd title)
Runner-up	Oklahoma State (5th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Rod Dedeaux (3rd title)
	()
	← 1960 ; NCAA Division I Baseball Championship; 1962 →;

The 1961 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1961 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its fifteenth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 25 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.^[1] The College World Series was held in Omaha, NE from June 9 to June 14. The fifteenth tournament's champion was Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Littleton Fowler of runner-up Oklahoma State.

Tournament[]

District 1[]

Games played at Springfield, Massachusetts.

First Round			Semi-Finals			Finals

	Boston College	11
	Springfield	8
				Boston College	4

				Connecticut	1
	Connecticut	15

	Colby	1
							Boston College	2	14

							Connecticut	3	4
	Springfield	9

	Colby	2
				Connecticut	3

				Springfield	1

District 2[]

Games played at Syracuse, New York.

Semifinals		Finals

St. John's	10

Villanova	4
		Syracuse	12

		St. John's	5
Syracuse	2

Delaware	0

District 3[]

Games played at Gastonia, North Carolina.

First round			Semifinals			Finals



				Duke	7

				Florida State	2
	Florida State	3

	West Virginia	1
							Duke	7	—

							West Virginia	3	—



				Florida State	3

				West Virginia	4

District 4[]

Games played at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

First round

Semifinals

Finals

Western Michigan

3

Detroit

1

Western Michigan

8

Cincinnati

1

Cincinnati

3¹⁰

Michigan

1

Western Michigan

4¹⁴

–

Michigan

3

–

Detroit

3

Michigan

6¹⁰

Cincinnati

1

Michigan

2

District 5[]

Games played at Stillwater, Oklahoma.



Oklahoma State	10	11	—
Northern Iowa	0	8	—

District 6[]

Games played at Austin, Texas.



Texas	8	5	—
Arizona	2	4	—

District 7[]

Games played at Laramie, Wyoming.

First round			Semifinals			Finals



				Air Force	10

				Wyoming	12
	Wyoming	3

	Colorado State College	2
							Wyoming	12	1

							Colorado State College	16	12



				Air Force	6

				Colorado State College	10

District 8[]

Games played at Los Angeles, California.



Southern California	4	4	10
Fresno State	1	6	6

Games played at Pullman, Washington.



Southern California	13	10	—
Washington State	6	4	—

College World Series[]

Participants[]

School	Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	CWS Appearances	CWS Best Finish	CWS Record
Boston College	Independent	16–4	Ed Peligrini	2 (last: 1960)	4th (1953)	3–4
Colorado State College^[a]	RMC	28–6 (14–0)	Pete Butler	7 (last: 1960)	5th (1955)	2–14
Duke	ACC	15–9 (11–3)	Ace Parker	2 (last: 1953)	5th (1952, 1953)	2–4
Oklahoma State	Big 8	24–1 (18–1)	Toby Greene	4 (last: 1960)	1st (1959)	12–7
Syracuse	Independent	16–3	Ted Kleinhans	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Texas	SWC	22–4–2 (11–3)	Bibb Falk	5 (last: 1957)	1st (1949, 1950)	14–7
Southern California	CIBA	31–7 (12–4)	Rod Dedeaux	6 (last: 1960)	1st (1948, 1958)	14–10
Western Michigan	MAC	18–6 (11–0)	Charlie Maher	4 (last: 1959)	2nd (1955)	8–8

Results[]

Bracket[]

First Round			Second Round			Third Round

Winner's Bracket
	Oklahoma State	3
	Duke	2
				Oklahoma State	12
				Syracuse	9
	Syracuse	12
	Colorado State College	5
							Oklahoma State	2
							Southern California	4
	Boston College	3
	Western Michigan	2
				Boston College	3
				Southern California	10
	Southern California	8
	Texas	6
			Loser's Bracket
				Duke	15
				Colorado State College	3		Boston College	4¹⁰
							Duke	3
				Western Michigan	8
				Texas	2		Syracuse	6
							Western Michigan	0

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Oklahoma State

8

Syracuse

0

Oklahoma State

0

Southern California

1

Southern California

4

Boston College

3

Game results[]

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 9	Game 1	Oklahoma State	3–2	Duke
June 10	Game 2	Syracuse	12–5	Colorado State College
	Game 3	Boston College	3–2	Western Michigan
	Game 4	Southern California	8–6	Texas
June 11	Game 5	Duke	15–3	Colorado State College	Colorado State College eliminated
	Game 6	Western Michigan	8–2	Texas	Texas eliminated
	Game 7	Oklahoma State	12–9	Syracuse
	Game 8	Southern California	10–3	Boston College
June 12	Game 9	Boston College	4–3 (10 innings)	Duke	Duke eliminated
	Game 10	Syracuse	6–0	Western Michigan	Western Michigan eliminated
	Game 11	Southern California	4–2	Oklahoma State
June 13	Game 12	Oklahoma State	8–0	Syracuse	Syracuse eliminated
June 13	Game 13	Southern California	4–3	Boston College	Boston College eliminated
June 14	Final	Southern California	1–0	Oklahoma State	Southern California wins CWS

All-Tournament Team[]

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position	Player	Class	School
Pitcher	Littleton Fowler	Sophomore	Oklahoma State
		Senior	Southern California
		Senior	Southern California
Catcher	Larry Himes	Junior	Southern California
First baseman		Junior	Southern California
Second baseman	Bruce Andrew	Senior	Oklahoma State
Third baseman		Senior	Syracuse
Shortstop	Don Wallace	Junior	Oklahoma State
Outfielder	Ron Davis	Sophomore	Duke
		Senior	Southern California
		Sophomore	Western Michigan

Notable players[]

Boston College:
Duke: Ron Davis
Colorado State College:
Oklahoma State: Don Wallace
Southern California: Dan Ardell, Mike Gillespie, Marcel Lachemann, Tom Satriano, Ron Stillwell, Wally Wolf
Syracuse: Bill Connors, Dave Giusti
Texas: Bill Bethea
Western Michigan: Roger Theder, Frank Quilici

Notes[]

^ Colorado State College is currently known as the University of Northern Colorado. Not to be confused with Colorado State University, then known as Colorado A&M.

References[]

^ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 192. Retrieved April 3, 2014.

[2] Colorado State College is currently known as the University of Northern Colorado. Not to be confused with Colorado State University, then known as Colorado A&M.

[NCAA-1] "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 192. Retrieved April 3, 2014.

[1]

[a]