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)
MOP	Stan Holmes (Arizona State)
	← 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

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

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

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Wichita State

4*

Clemson

1

East Tennessee State

5*

East Tennessee State

2

Central Regional at Austin, TX


Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



Lamar	6

Stanford	5
		Lamar	2

		Texas	3
Texas	11

BYU	4
				Texas	8	10

				Stanford	9	2
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Lamar	1

BYU	1	Stanford	9

Stanford	2

East Regional at Columbia, SC


Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



Memphis	16

James Madison	3
		Memphis	5

		South Carolina	8
South Carolina	15

Temple	6
				South Carolina	11	—

				Memphis	5	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Memphis	8

Temple	2	James Madison	3

James Madison	10

Mideast Regional at Ann Arbor, MI


Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



New Orleans	2

Michigan	1
		New Orleans	11

		Eastern Michigan	18
Eastern Michigan	15

UNLV	3
				Eastern Michigan	0	0

				Michigan	10	4
Lower round 1		Lower final



		New Orleans	1

UNLV	2	Michigan	7

Michigan	6

Midwest Regional at Tulsa, OK


Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



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	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Southern Illinois	2

San Diego State	1	Oral Roberts	7

Oral Roberts	3

Northeast Regional at New Haven, CT

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

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

Lower round 1

Lower final

St. John's

23

Yale

2

Central Michigan

13

Central Michigan

7

South Regional at Coral Gables, FL


Round 1		Round 2		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



Florida State	5

Florida	1	Florida State	9

		Minnesota	5

Middle Tennessee	4			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


Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final



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	—
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Cal State Fullerton	10

Gonzaga	8	Fresno State	9

Fresno State	10

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)	June Raines	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

Upper round 1

Upper round 2

Upper final

Semifinals

Preliminary final

Final

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

Oklahoma State

8

South Carolina

5

Oklahoma State

12

Texas

15¹³

Miami (FL)

6

Miami (FL)

6

Maine

1

Oklahoma State

4

Texas

3

Arizona State

7

Lower round 1

Lower round 2

Arizona State

12

Miami (FL)

4

Michigan

5

Texas

5

Arizona State

10

Texas

6

South Carolina

7

Mississippi State

5

South Carolina

12

South Carolina

6

Maine

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	School
P	Kevin Dukes	Arizona State
P	Don Mundie	Mississippi State
C	Burk Goldthorn	Texas
1B	Alvin Davis	Arizona State
2B	Billy DeMann	Arizona State
3B	Mike Sodders	Arizona State
SS	Rod Carraway	South Carolina
OF	Mark Gillaspie	Mississippi State
	Stan Holmes (MOP)	Arizona State
	Mickey Tettleton	Oklahoma State
DH	Lemmie Miller	Arizona State

Notable players

Arizona State: Alvin Davis, Donnie Hill, Lemmie Miller, Billy DeMann, 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, Mike Hamer

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. pp. 203–204. Retrieved April 22, 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. pp. 203–204. Retrieved April 22, 2012.

[1]

[2]

v t e 1980–81 NCAA Division I championships
Baseball Basketball Cross country Fencing Football (I-A) Football (I-AA) Golf Gymnastics Ice hockey Lacrosse Rifle Skiing Soccer Swimming and diving Tennis Indoor track and field Outdoor track and field Volleyball Water polo Wrestling
† Inaugural championship – Until 1981–82, all championships for men only

Regionals

Atlantic Regional at Clemson, SC

Central Regional at Austin, TX

East Regional at Columbia, SC

Mideast Regional at Ann Arbor, MI

Midwest Regional at Tulsa, OK

Northeast Regional at New Haven, CT

South Regional at Coral Gables, FL

West Regional at Tempe, AZ

College World Series

Participants

Results

Bracket

Game results

All-Tournament Team

Notable players

See also

References