1976 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament

1976 NCAA Division I
Baseball Tournament

Season	1976
Teams	34
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Arizona (1st title)
Runner-up	Eastern Michigan (2nd CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Jerry Kindall (1st title)
()
← 1975  NCAA Division I Baseball Championship 1977 →

The 1976 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1976 NCAA Division I 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 thirtieth year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Seven regions held a four team, double-elimination tournament while one region included six teams, resulting in 34 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.^[1] The thirtieth tournament's champion was Arizona, coached by Jerry Kindall. The Most Outstanding Player was Steve Powers of Arizona.

Regionals[]

Seven of the eight regionals were played as 4-team double-elimination tournaments. One regional was played as a 6-team double-elimination tournament. The winner of each regional moved onto the College World Series.

Atlantic Regional[]

Games played in Columbia, South Carolina.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Clemson	13
		Furman	2
							Clemson	10
							South Carolina	4
		South Carolina	7*
		Virginia Tech	6*
												Clemson	6	—
											Furman	2	—
		Furman	5
		Virginia Tech	4
							South Carolina	1
							Furman	12

Rocky Mountain Regional[]

Games played in Tempe, Arizona.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Memphis	6
		Minnesota	0
							Memphis	4
							Arizona State	11
		Arizona State	13
		Gonzaga	2
												Arizona State	12	—
											Minnesota	5	—
		Minnesota	4
		Gonzaga	0
							Memphis	4
							Minnesota	17

Mideast Regional[]

Games played in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Illinois State	5
		Southern Illinois	2
							Illinois State	0
							Eastern Michigan	3
		Eastern Michigan	6
		Michigan	0
												Eastern Michigan	3	6
											Michigan	5	0
		Southern Illinois	0
		Michigan	2
							Illinois State	4
							Michigan	5

South Regional[]

Games played in Tallahassee, Florida.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Auburn	10
		Middle Tennessee	5
							Auburn	2
							Florida State	1
		Florida State	6
		Jacksonville	1
												Auburn	7	—
											Jacksonville	5	—
		Middle Tennessee	5
		Jacksonville	8
							Florida State	7
							Jacksonville	9

Midwest Regional[]

Games played in Edinburg, Texas.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Missouri	5
		Texas A&M	3
							Missouri	1
							Arizona	10
		Arizona	5
		Texas–Pan American	0
												Arizona	8	—
											Texas A&M	2	—
		Texas A&M	2
		Texas–Pan American	1
							Missouri	3
							Texas A&M	12

South Central Regional[]

Games played in Arlington, Texas.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Oklahoma	11
		Miami (FL)	3
							Oklahoma	3
							Texas	2
		Texas	3
		Lamar	2
												Oklahoma	5*	4
											Texas	6*	1
		Miami (FL)	6
		Lamar	0
							Texas	5
							Miami (FL)	0

West Regional[]

Games played in Pullman, Washington.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Cal State Fullerton	7
		Northern Colorado	1
							Cal State Fullerton	1
							Washington State	5
		Washington State	8
		Pepperdine	2
												Washington State	1	7
											Cal State Fullerton	13	2
		Pepperdine	4
		Northern Colorado	2
							Cal State Fullerton	11
							Pepperdine	3

Northeast Regional[]

Games played in Storrs, Connecticut.

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Seton Hall	8
		St. John's	0				Seton Hall	3
							Penn State	2
		Temple	6									Seton Hall	1
		Columbia	2									Maine	3
							Temple	3														Maine	4	—
							Maine	6														Seton Hall	2	—
		Maine	11														Seton Hall	1
		Penn State	4									St. John's	3				Temple	0
							Columbia	5				Temple	4
							St. John's	12

College World Series[]

Participants[]

School	Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	CWS Appearances	CWS Best Finish	CWS Record
Arizona	WAC	51–16 (12–6)	Jerry Kindall	9 (last: 1970)	2nd (1956, 1958, 1960)	17–18
Arizona State	WAC	62–8 (17–1)	Jim Brock	7 (last: 1975)	1st (1965, 1967, 1969)	26–11
Auburn	SEC	37–13 (12–7)		1 (last: 1967)	4th (1967)	2–2
Clemson	ACC	35–13 (10–2)	Bill Wilhelm	2 (last: 1959)	5th (1958, 1959)	2–4
Eastern Michigan	MAC	43–14 (12–3)		1 (last: 1975)	6th (1975)	1–2
Maine	Eastern Collegiate	27–7 (n/a)	John Winkin	1 (last: 1964)	3rd (1964)	3–2
Oklahoma	Big 8	62–17 (4–1)	Enos Semore	5 (last: 1975)	1st (1951)	9–8
Washington State	Pac-8	42–13 (16–2)	Chuck Brayton	3 (last: 1965)	2nd (1950)	5–6

Results[]

Bracket[]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Clemson	9
		Auburn	4
							Clemson	2
							Eastern Michigan	310
		Eastern Michigan	3
		Maine	2
												Eastern Michigan	2
												Arizona State	1
		Arizona State	710
		Arizona	6
							Arizona State	9
							Washington State	3
		Washington State	6
		Oklahoma	1
						Loser's Bracket
							Auburn	8
							Maine	9				Washington State	3
												Maine	6
							Arizona	10
							Oklahoma	2				Clemson	6
												Arizona	10

	Semifinals					Finals					if needed
	Re-ordered Semi-finals
		Eastern Michigan	6									Eastern Michigan	1
		Arizona	7									Arizona	7
							Arizona	5
							Arizona State	1
		Arizona State	7
		Maine	0

Game results[]

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 11	Game 1	Clemson	9–4	Auburn
	Game 2	Eastern Michigan	3–2	Maine
June 12	Game 3	Arizona State	7–6 (10 innings)	Arizona
	Game 4	Washington State	6–1	Oklahoma
	Game 5	Maine	9–8	Auburn	Auburn eliminated
June 13	Game 6	Arizona	10–2	Oklahoma	Oklahoma eliminated
	Game 7	Eastern Michigan	3–2 (10 innings)	Clemson
	Game 8	Arizona State	9–3	Washington State
June 14	Game 9	Arizona	10–6	Clemson	Clemson eliminated
	Game 10	Maine	6–3	Washington State	Washington State eliminated
June 15	Game 11	Eastern Michigan	2–1	Arizona State
June 16	Game 12	Arizona State	7–0	Maine	Maine eliminated
	Game 13	Arizona	11–6	Eastern Michigan
June 18	Game 14	Arizona	5–1	Arizona State	Arizona State eliminated
June 19	Final	Arizona	7–1	Eastern Michigan	Arizona wins CWS

All-Tournament Team[]

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

Position	Player	Class	School
Pitcher		Junior	Arizona
	Bob Owchinko	Senior	Eastern Michigan
Catcher	Ron Hassey	Senior	Arizona
First baseman	Ken Phelps	Senior	Arizona State
Second baseman		Junior	Eastern Michigan
Third baseman		Freshman	Eastern Michigan
Shortstop		Sophomore	Maine
Outfielder	Ken Landreaux	Junior	Arizona State
	Dave Stegman	Senior	Arizona
		Junior	Arizona
Designated hitter	Steve Powers	Senior	Arizona

Notable players[]

• Arizona: Ron Hassey, Dave Stegman
• Arizona State: Gary Allenson, Chris Bando, Floyd Bannister, Mike Colbern, Bob Horner, Dave Hudgens, Darrell Jackson, Ken Landreaux, Chris Nyman, Bob Pate, Rick Peters, Ken Phelps, Gary Rajsich
• Auburn: Joe Beckwith, Terry Leach
• Clemson: Ron Musselman, Chuck Porter, Kurt Seibert
• Eastern Michigan: Glenn Gulliver, John Martin, Bob Owchinko, Bob Welch
• Maine: Jack Leggett, Bert Roberge
• Oklahoma: Terry Bogener, Keith Drumright, George Frazier, Gene Krug, Roger LaFrancois
• Washington State: Dave Edler, Eric Wilkins, Tom Niedenfuer

Tournament Notes[]

• The Arizona State team featured 13 future Major League players – a record matched by the school's team from the previous year.
• Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall became the first person to win a College World Series as both a player (1956, Minnesota) and a coach.
• Keith Drumright appeared in his fourth College World Series.
• Eastern Michigan was the last northern school to play in the final game of the College World Series for 43 years, until Michigan in 2019.

References[]