1968 NCAA University Division baseball tournament

1968 NCAA University Division
baseball tournament

Season	1968
Teams	27
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Southern California (5th title)
Runner-up	Southern Illinois (1st CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Rod Dedeaux (5th title)
MOP	Bill Seinsoth (Southern California)

The 1968 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1968 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 twenty-second 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 27 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The twenty-second tournament's champion was the Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Bill Seinsoth of the Southern California.

Tournament

The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between two and four teams. The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner.

District 1 at Storrs, CT

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Connecticut

1

Providence

0

Connecticut

0

Harvard

3

Harvard

4

Boston University

1

Harvard

3

—

Connecticut

2

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Connecticut

8

Providence

4*

Boston University

2

Boston University

5*

District 2 at Princeton, NJ

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	St. John's		12
	Rutgers		0
						St. John's		2
						Temple		0
	Temple		6
	NYU		5
											St. John's		1	—
											NYU		0	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						NYU		5
	NYU		5			Temple		2
	Rutgers		0

District 3 at Gastonia, NC

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

NC State

3

Alabama

1

NC State

7

East Carolina

5

East Carolina

2*

Florida State

1*

NC State

12

4

Florida State

15

1

Lower round 1

Lower final

East Carolina

2

Florida State

6

Florida State

3

Alabama

1

District 4 at Minneapolis, MN

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	Minnesota		6
	Valparaiso		4
						Minnesota		9
						Southern Illinois		10
	Southern Illinois		6
	Ohio		3
											Southern Illinois		3	—
											Ohio		0	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Minnesota		4
	Valparaiso		0			Ohio		5
	Ohio		1

District 5 at Stillwater, OK

	Finals
	Oklahoma State	13	3	—
	Bradley	1	0	—

District 6 at Austin, TX

	Finals
	Texas	3	1*	10
	Texas–Pan American	0	2*	6

District 7 at Ogden, UT

	First Round					Upper Round					Semifinal						Final
	Northern Colorado		4
	Weber State		3
						Northern Colorado		15
						Weber State		21
	Weber State		7
																	BYU		17	7*	—
	Denver		5
											Weber State		4	—			Weber State		7	6*	—
											Denver		1	—
						Lower Round
						Denver		15
						Northern Colorado		6

District 8 at Los Angeles, CA

	Semifinal						Final
							Southern California	4	4*	5*
	Cal State Los Angeles	2	5	—			Cal State Los Angeles	2	8*	4*
	Santa Clara	1	3	—

College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	CWS appearances	CWS best finish	CWS record
BYU	WAC	31–15 (8–4)	Glen Tuckett	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Harvard	EIBL	19–7 (8–1)	Norman Shepard	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
NC State	ACC	23–7 (13–4)	Sam Esposito	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Oklahoma State	Big 8	20–7 (15–3)	Chet Bryan	7 (last: 1967)	1st (1959)	18–13
Southern Illinois		34–12 (n/a)	Joe Lutz	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
St. John's		23–8 (n/a)	Jack Kaiser	3 (last: 1966)	4th (1949, 1966)	3–6
Texas	SWC	22–9 (12–4)	Cliff Gustafson	10 (last: 1966)	1st (1949, 1950)	20–17
USC	Pac-8	38–12–1 (16–2)	Rod Dedeaux	10 (last: 1966)	1st (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963)	29–15

Results

Bracket

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	Harvard		0
	St. John's		2
						St. John's		312
						NC State		2
	Southern Illinois		6
	NC State		7
											St. John's		6
											USC		7
	Texas		5
																USC		2
	Oklahoma State		8
						Oklahoma State		5								NC State		0
						USC		6
	BYU		3
	USC		5
																					USC		4
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Southern Illinois		3
											Southern Illinois		7
						Harvard		1			Oklahoma State		1
																Southern Illinois		15
						Southern Illinois		211
																St. John's		0
											Texas		5
						Texas		7			NC State		6
						BYU		0

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 10	Game 1	St. John's	2–0	Harvard
	Game 2	NC State	7–6	Southern Illinois
June 11	Game 3	Oklahoma State	8–5	Texas
	Game 4	USC	5–3	BYU
	Game 5	Southern Illinois	2–1 (11 innings)	Harvard	Harvard eliminated
June 12	Game 6	Texas	7–0	BYU	BYU eliminated
	Game 7	St. John's	3–2 (12 innings)	NC State
	Game 8	USC	6–5	Oklahoma State
June 13	Game 9	NC State	6–5	Texas	Texas eliminated
	Game 10	Southern Illinois	7–1	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State eliminated
	Game 11	USC	7–6	St. John's
June 14	Game 12	Southern Illinois	15–0	St. John's	St. John's eliminated
	Game 13	USC	2–0	NC State	NC State eliminated
June 15	Final	USC	4–3	Southern Illinois	USC wins CWS

All-Tournament Team

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

Position	Player	School
P	Bill Lee	USC
	Tom Sowinski	St. John's
C	Ralph Addonizio	St. John's
1B	Bill Seinsoth (MOP)	USC
2B	Lou Bagwell	Texas
3B	Barry O'Sullivan	Southern Illinois
SS	Danny Thompson	Oklahoma State
OF	Jerry Bond	Southern Illinois
	Mike Rogodzinski	Southern Illinois
	Wayne Weatherly	Oklahoma State

Notable players

• BYU: Ken Crosby, Doug Howard
• Harvard: Ray Peters, Pete Varney
• NC State: Mike Caldwell, Tommy Smith
• Oklahoma State: Danny Thompson
• USC: Jim Barr, Bill Lee, Brent Strom
• Southern Illinois: Skip Pitlock, Mike Rogodzinski
• St. John's:
• Texas: Larry Hardy

See also

• 1968 NCAA College Division baseball tournament (inaugural edition)
• 1968 NAIA World Series