1981 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament

1981 NCAA Division I
Baseball Tournament
Season	1981
Teams	34
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium; Omaha, NE;
Champions	Arizona State (5th title)
Runner-up	Oklahoma State (9th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Jim Brock (2nd title)
	()
	← 1980 ; NCAA Division I Baseball Championship; 1982 →;

The 1981 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1981 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 fifth 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-fifth tournament's champion was Arizona State coached by Jim Brock. The Most Outstanding Player was Stan Holmes of Arizona State.

Regionals[]

The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight regional sites across the country, seven consisting of four teams and one of six teams.^[2] The winners of each Regional advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner.

Atlantic Regional at Clemson, SC[]



Mississippi State	7
East Tennessee State	6
		Mississippi State	5

		Wichita State	1
Wichita State	7

Clemson	2
				Mississippi State	6	—

				East Tennessee State	5	—
Clemson	1

East Tennessee State	2
		Wichita State	4*

		East Tennessee State	5*

Central Regional at Austin, TX[]



Lamar	6
Stanford	5
		Lamar	2

		Texas	3
Texas	11

BYU	4
				Texas	8	10

				Stanford	9	2
BYU	1

Stanford	2
		Lamar	1

		Stanford	9

East Regional at Columbia, SC[]



Memphis	16
James Madison	3
		Memphis	5

		South Carolina	8
South Carolina	15

Temple	6
				South Carolina	11	—

				Memphis	5	—
Temple	2

James Madison	10
		Memphis	8

		James Madison	3

Mideast Regional at Ann Arbor, MI[]



New Orleans	2
Michigan	1
		New Orleans	11

		Eastern Michigan	18
Eastern Michigan	15

UNLV	3
				Eastern Michigan	0	0

				Michigan	10	4
UNLV	2

Michigan	6
		New Orleans	1

		Michigan	7

Midwest Regional at Tulsa, OK[]



Southern Illinois	4
San Diego State	3
		Southern Illinois	4

		Oklahoma State	9
Oklahoma State	4

Oral Roberts	3
				Oklahoma State	8	—

				Oral Roberts	5	—
San Diego State	1

Oral Roberts	3
		Southern Illinois	2

		Oral Roberts	7

Northeast Regional at New Haven, CT[]



Maine	10
Central Michigan	2
		Maine	10

		St. John's	5
St. John's	1*

Yale	0*
				Maine	5	15

				St. John's	10	0
Yale	2

Central Michigan	7
		St. John's	23

		Central Michigan	13

South Regional at Coral Gables, FL[]



Florida State	5
Florida	1	Florida State	9
		Minnesota
Middle Tennessee				Florida State	6
Missouri	2			Miami (FL)	14
		Middle Tennessee	0					Miami (FL)	8	—
		Miami (FL)	2					Florida	6	—
Miami (FL)	12					Florida State	4
Minnesota	0			Middle Tennessee	4*	Florida	5
		Missouri	3	Florida	7
		Florida	7

West Regional at Tempe, AZ[]



Cal State Fullerton	9
Fresno State	8
		Cal State Fullerton	9

		Arizona State	18
Arizona State	9

Gonzaga	6
				Arizona State	12	—

				Cal State Fullerton	7	—
Gonzaga	8

Fresno State	10
		Cal State Fullerton	10

		Fresno State	9

College World Series[]

Participants[]

School	Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	CWS Appearances	CWS Best Finish	CWS Record
Arizona State	Pac-10	50–12 (26–4)	Jim Brock	10 (last: 1978)	1st (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977)	37–16
Maine	Eastern Collegiate	32–12 (n/a)	John Winkin	2 (last: 1976)	3rd (1964)	5–4
Miami (FL)	n/a	60–8 (n/a)	Ron Fraser	4 (last: 1980)	2nd (1974)	7–8
Michigan	Big 10	41–18 (10–4)	Bud Middaugh	4 (last: 1980)	1st (1953)	10–5
Mississippi State	SEC	45–15 (17–6)	Ron Polk	2 (last: 1979)	6th (1979)	1–4
Oklahoma State	Big 8	49–15 (12–6)	Gary Ward	8 (last: 1968)	1st (1959)	19–15
South Carolina	n/a	44–13 (n/a)		2 (last: 1977)	2nd (1975, 1977)	7–4
Texas	SWC	58–9–1 (16–5)	Cliff Gustafson	18 (last: 1979)	1st (1949, 1950, 1975)	38–32

Results[]

Bracket[]

First Round			Second Round			Third Round

Winner's Bracket
	Mississippi State	4
	Michigan	1
				Mississippi State	3
				Arizona State	4
	Arizona State	11
	Texas	2
							Arizona State	10
							Oklahoma State	11¹³
	Oklahoma State	8¹⁰
	South Carolina	5
				Oklahoma State	12
				Miami (FL)	6
	Miami (FL)	6
	Maine	1
			Loser's Bracket
				Michigan	5
				Texas	6		Miami (FL)	4
							Texas	5
				South Carolina	12
				Maine	7		Mississippi State	5
							South Carolina	6

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Oklahoma State

8

Oklahoma State

4

Texas

15¹³

Arizona State

7

Texas

3

Arizona State

12

Arizona State

10

South Carolina

7

Game results[]

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
May 30	Game 1	Mississippi State	4–0	Michigan
May 30	Game 2	Arizona State	11–2	Texas
May 31	Game 3	Oklahoma State	8–5 (10 innings)	South Carolina
May 31	Game 4	Miami (FL)	6–1	Maine
June 1	Game 5	Arizona State	4–3	Mississippi State
June 2	Game 6	Oklahoma State	12–6	Miami (FL)
June 2	Game 7	Texas	6–5	Michigan	Michigan eliminated
June 3	Game 8	South Carolina	12–7	Maine	Maine eliminated
June 4	Game 9	Oklahoma State	11–10 (13 innings)	Arizona State	Oklahoma St. qualified for final
June 4	Game 10	Texas	5–4	Miami (FL)	Miami (FL) eliminated
June 5	Game 11	South Carolina	6–5	Mississippi State	Mississippi State eliminated
June 6	Game 12	Texas	15–8 (13 innings)	Oklahoma State
June 6	Game 13	Arizona State	10–7	South Carolina	South Carolina eliminated
June 7	Game 14	Arizona State	12–3	Texas	Texas eliminated
June 8	Final	Arizona State	7–4	Oklahoma State	Arizona State wins CWS

All-Tournament Team[]

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

Position	Player	Class	School
Pitcher	Kevin Dukes	Senior	Arizona State
Pitcher		Senior	Mississippi State
Catcher		Senior	Texas
First baseman	Alvin Davis	Junior	Arizona State
Second baseman			Oklahoma State
Third baseman		Senior	Arizona State
Shortstop		Senior	South Carolina
Outfielder		Senior	Mississippi State
	Stan Holmes	Senior	Arizona State
	Mickey Tettleton	Junior	Oklahoma State
Designated hitter	Lemmie Miller	Junior	Arizona State

Notable players[]

Arizona State: Alvin Davis, Donnie Hill, Lemmie Miller, Ricky Nelson, Kevin Romine
Maine: Kevin Buckley, Joe Johnson, Bill Swift
Miami (FL): Neal Heaton, Mike Pagliarulo
Michigan: Steve Ontiveros, Jim Paciorek, Chris Sabo
Mississippi State:
Oklahoma State: Gary Green, Mickey Tettleton, Jim Traber, Robbie Wine
South Carolina: Don Gordon
Texas: Mike Brumley, Spike Owen, Calvin Schiraldi

References[]

^ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 195. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
^ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 203-204. Retrieved 22 April 2012.

[NCAA195-1] "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 195. Retrieved August 27, 2014.

[NCAA-2] "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 203-204. Retrieved 22 April 2012.

[1]

[2]

v t 1980–81 NCAA Division I championships
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† Inaugural championship – Until 1981–82, all championships for men only