1979 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament

1979 NCAA Division I
Baseball Tournament

Season	1979
Teams	34
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Cal State Fullerton (1st title)
Runner-up	Arkansas (1st CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Augie Garrido (1st title)
()
← 1978  NCAA Division I Baseball Championship 1980 →

The 1979 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1979 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 thirty third 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 thirty-third tournament's champion was Cal State Fullerton, coached by Augie Garrido. The Most Outstanding Player was Tony Hudson of Cal State Fullerton.

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 on to the College World Series.

Northeast Regional[]

Games played at Annapolis, Maryland.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Connecticut	5
		Navy	4
							St. John's	6
							Connecticut	3
		St. John's	5
		Nebraska	0
												St. John's	4	0
											Connecticut	14	4
		Navy	4
		Nebraska	13
							Connecticut	15
							Nebraska	0

Atlantic Regional[]

Games played at Coral Gables, Florida.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Clemson	8
		Georgia Southern	4
							Clemson	1
							Miami (FL)	2
		Miami (FL)	316
		The Citadel	1
												Miami (FL)	4	—
											Clemson	1	—
		Georgia Southern	5
		The Citadel	3
							Clemson	2
							Georgia Southern	0

Mideast Regional[]

Games played at East Lansing, Michigan.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		San Diego State	11
		Miami (OH)	6
							San Diego State	9
							Pepperdine	15
		Pepperdine	15
		Michigan State	0
												Pepperdine	13	—
											San Diego State	2	—
		Miami (OH)	4
		Michigan State	6
							San Diego State	5
							Michigan State	4

East Regional[]

Games played at Tallahassee, Florida

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Delaware	10
		Seton Hall	1				Delaware	7
							Florida State	6
		Arkansas	12									Delaware	6
		George Washington	11									Arkansas	8
							Arkansas	9														Arkansas	4	—
							Florida	1														Delaware	3	—
		Florida	9														Delaware	5
		Florida State	5									Florida	12				Florida	5
							Seton Hall	2				George Washington	7
							George Washington	5

Midwest Regional[]

Games played at Tucson, Arizona.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Hawaii	4
		Indiana State	3
							Hawaii	2
							Arizona	10
		Arizona	8
		Oklahoma	1
												Arizona	5	—
											Hawaii	3	—
		Indiana State	2
		Oklahoma	9
							Hawaii	12
							Oklahoma	8

Central Regional[]

Games played at Austin, Texas.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Texas	4
		Texas–Pan American	2
							Texas	6
							Lamar	4
		Lamar	3
		BYU	2
												Texas	6	—
											BYU	2	—
		Texas–Pan American	5
		BYU	11
							Lamar	4
							BYU	7

South Regional[]

Games played at Starkville, Mississippi.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Murray State	5
		Tulane	3
							Murray State	16
							New Orleans	15
		New Orleans	13
		Mississippi State	11
												Murray State	6	8
											Mississippi State	8	18
		Tulane	4
		Mississippi State	12
							New Orleans	10
							Mississippi State	13

West Regional[]

Games played at Fresno, California.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		UCLA	5
		Cal State Fullerton	4
							UCLA	5
							Fresno State	4
		Fresno State	10*
		Portland	8*
												UCLA	2	5
											Cal State Fullerton	9	9
		Cal State Fullerton	20
		Portland	3
							Fresno State	3
							Cal State Fullerton	12

College World Series[]

Connecticut, Miami (FL), Pepperdine, Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi St., and Cal St. Fullerton won their regionals and moved on to the College World Series.

Participants[]

School	Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	CWS Appearances	CWS Best Finish	CWS Record
Arizona	Pac-10	42–23 (17–13)	Jerry Kindall	10 (last: 1976)	1st (1976)	21–19
Arkansas	SWC	46–13 (19–5)	Norm DeBriyn	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Cal State Fullerton	SCBA	55–13 (23–4)	Augie Garrido	1 (last: 1975)	7th (1975)	0–2
Connecticut	Eastern Collegiate	31–11 (n/a)	Larry Panciera	4 (last: 1972)	5th (1957, 1972)	3–8
Miami (FL)	n/a	55–9 (n/a)	Ron Fraser	2 (last: 1978)	2nd (1974)	5–4
Mississippi State	SEC	47–10 (17–2)	Ron Polk	1 (last: 1971)	7th (1971)	0–2
Pepperdine	SCBA	50–16 (19–9)	Dave Gorrie	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Texas	SWC	53–6 (22–2)	Cliff Gustafson	17 (last: 1975)	1st (1949, 1950, 1975)	36–30

Results[]

Bracket[]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Arkansas	5
		Pepperdine	4
							Arkansas	10
							Arizona	3
		Arizona	5
		Miami (FL)	1
												Arkansas	9
												Texas	4
		Texas	11
		Connecticut	5
							Texas	8
							Mississippi State	2
		Mississippi State	6
		Cal State Fullerton	1
						Loser's Bracket
							Pepperdine	9
							Miami (FL)	3				Mississippi State	4
												Pepperdine	510
							Connecticut	3
							Cal State Fullerton	8				Arizona	3
												Cal State Fullerton	16

	Semifinals					Finals					if needed
	Re-ordered Semi-finals
		Arkansas	10									Cal State Fullerton	2
		Cal State Fullerton	13									Arkansas	1
							Cal State Fullerton	8
							Pepperdine	5
		Texas	4
		Pepperdine	6

Game results[]

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 1	Game 1	Arkansas	5–4	Pepperdine
	Game 2	Arizona	5–1	Miami (FL)
June 2	Game 3	Texas	11–5	Connecticut
	Game 4	Mississippi State	6–1	Cal State Fullerton
	Game 5	Pepperdine	9–3	Miami (FL)	Miami eliminated
June 3	Game 6	Cal State Fullerton	8–3	Connecticut	Connecticut eliminated
	Game 7	Arkansas	10–3	Arizona
	Game 8	Texas	8–2	Mississippi State
June 4	Game 9	Cal State Fullerton	16–3	Arizona	Arizona eliminated
	Game 10	Pepperdine	5–4 (10 innings)	Mississippi State	Mississippi State eliminated
June 5	Game 11	Arkansas	9–4	Texas
June 6	Game 12	Pepperdine	6–4	Texas	Texas eliminated
	Game 13	Cal State Fullerton	13–10	Arkansas
June 7	Game 14	Cal State Fullerton	8–5	Pepperdine	Pepperdine eliminated
June 8	Final	Cal State Fullerton	2–1	Arkansas	Cal State Fullerton wins CWS

All-Tournament Team[]

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

Position	Player	Class	School
Pitcher	Tony Hudson	Sophomore	Cal State Fullerton
		Junior	Arkansas
Catcher		Junior	Cal State Fullerton
First baseman	Tim Wallach	Senior	Cal State Fullerton
Second baseman	Mike Gates	Senior	Pepperdine
Third baseman		Sophomore	Cal State Fullerton
Shortstop		Senior	Arkansas
Outfielder		Senior	Arkansas
	Kevin McReynolds	Freshman	Arkansas
	Joseph Bruno	Senior	Texas
Designated hitter		Junior	Texas

Notable players[]

• Arizona: Terry Francona, Craig Lefferts, Brad Mills, John Moses, Jim Scranton, Dwight Taylor
• Arkansas: Kevin McReynolds, Johnny Ray, Ronn Reynolds
• Cal State Fullerton: John Christensen, Andre David, Tim Wallach
• Connecticut:
• Miami (FL): Tony Brewer, Neal Heaton, Ross Jones, Mike Pagliarulo, Dennis Owens
• Mississippi State: Tim Weisheim
• Pepperdine: Mike Gates
• Texas: Jim Acker, Tony Arnold, Joseph Bruno, Keith Creel, Ron Gardenhire, Jerry Don Gleaton, Andre Robertson, Ricky Wright

Tournament notes[]

• In the South Regional semifinal Murray State and New Orleans set a tournament record for most combined runs in a game (31).

References[]