1988 NCAA Division I baseball season

1988 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	270
NCAA tournament
College World Series
Champions	Stanford (2nd title)
Runners-up	Arizona State (15th CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	George Wolfman (1st title)
MOP	Lee Plemel (Stanford)
Seasons

The 1988 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1988. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1988 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the forty second time in 1988, consisted of one team from each of eight regional competitions and was held in Omaha, Nebraska, at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Stanford claimed the championship for the second time.

Realignment and format changes

• Armstrong State moved its athletic program back to NCAA Division II. The Big South Conference dissolved its two division format and played as a single conference of seven members.
• The Big Ten Conference dissolved its two division format, playing as a single conference of ten members.

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1988 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Each of the eight regionals consisted of six teams competing in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. 27 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 21 teams earned at-large selections.

Conference	Regular season Winner	Conference tournament	Tournament venue • city	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	1988 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament	Greenville Municipal Stadium • Greenville, SC	Georgia Tech
Atlantic 10 Conference	East - Rutgers West Virginia	1988 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament	Bear Stadium • Boyertown, PA	Rutgers
Big East Conference	North - Providence South - Villanova	1988 Big East Conference baseball tournament	Muzzy Field • Bristol, CT	St. John's
Big Eight Conference	Oklahoma State	1988 Big Eight Conference baseball tournament	All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK	Oklahoma State
Big South Conference	Coastal Carolina	1988 Big South Conference baseball tournament	Taylor Field • Buies Creek, NC	Campbell
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	1988 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament	Ray Fisher Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	Minnesota
Colonial Athletic Association	James Madison	1988 Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament	The Diamond • Richmond, VA	George Mason
EIBL	Penn	No tournament
Mid-American Conference	Central Michigan	No tournament
Midwestern Collegiate Conference	North - Notre Dame South - Evansville	1988 Midwestern City Conference baseball tournament	South Bend, IN	Evansville
Metro Conference	South Carolina	1988 Metro Conference baseball tournament	Seminole Stadium • Tallahassee, FL	Florida State
Mid-Continent Conference	Blue - Valparaiso Gray - Southwest Missouri State	1988 Mid-Continent Conference baseball tournament	Chicago, IL	Southwest Missouri State
Pacific-10 Conference	North - Washington State South - Arizona State	No tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association	Fresno State	No tournament
Southeastern Conference	Florida	1988 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament	Dudy Noble Field • Starkville, MS	Florida
Southern Conference	North - VMI South - Western Carolina	1988 Southern Conference baseball tournament	Asheville, NC	Western Carolina
Southwest Conference	Texas	1988 Southwest Conference baseball tournament	George Cole Field • Fayetteville, AR	Texas
Trans America Athletic Conference	East - Georgia Southern West - Centenary	1988 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball tournament	Centenary Park • Shreveport, LA	Stetson

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1988 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 21 Clemson  ‍†‍‍y 18 – 2   .900 54 – 14   .794 No. 27 NC State  ‍‍‍y 13 – 6   .684 45 – 16   .738 No. 29 Georgia Tech  ‍‍‡‍y 12 – 8   .600 45 – 24   .652 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 11 – 10   .524 32 – 19   .627 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 10 – 11   .476 34 – 27   .557 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 7 – 12   .368 32 – 26   .552 Maryland  ‍‍‍ 5 – 14   .263 20 – 24   .455 Duke  ‍‍‍ 3 – 16   .158 10 – 35   .222 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT East Rutgers  x‍‍‡‍y 14 – 2 – 0   .875 38 – 21 – 1   .642 UMass  ‍‍‍ 9 – 7 – 0   .563 36 – 16 – 0   .692 Temple  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8 – 0   .500 27 – 27 – 0   .500 Rhode Island  ‍‍‍ 5 – 11 – 0   .313 10 – 28 – 0   .263 Saint Joseph's  ‍‍‍ 4 – 12 – 0   .250 16 – 23 – 1   .413 West West Virginia  x‍‍‍ 12 – 4 – 0   .750 33 – 17 – 1   .657 George Washington  ‍‍‍ 11 – 5 – 0   .688 30 – 26 – 1   .535 Penn State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8 – 0   .500 24 – 26 – 0   .480 St. Bonaventure  ‍‍‍ 7 – 9 – 0   .438 26 – 21 – 0   .553 Duquesne  ‍‍‍ 2 – 14 – 0   .125 13 – 16 – 0   .448 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Big East Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT North Division Providence  x‍‍‍ 12 – 6 – 0   .667 22 – 29 – 0   .431 St. John's  ‍‍‡‍y 9 – 9 – 0   .500 29 – 21 – 1   .578 Boston College  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10 – 0   .444 15 – 16 – 0   .484 Connecticut  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11 – 0   .389 24 – 18 – 0   .571 South Division Villanova  x‍‍‍ 16 – 2 – 0   .889 32 – 22 – 0   .593 Seton Hall  ‍‍‍ 12 – 6 – 0   .667 39 – 16 – 0   .709 Georgetown  ‍‍‍ 4 – 13 – 0   .235 12 – 31 – 0   .279 Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍ 3 – 14 – 0   .176 9 – 20 – 0   .310 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1988 Big South Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Coastal Carolina  ‍†‍‍ 15 – 0   1.000 35 – 12   .745 Baptist  ‍‍‍ 12 – 7   .632 27 – 16   .628 Campbell  ‍‍‡‍ 10 – 8   .556 32 – 16   .667 Winthrop  ‍‍‍ 8 – 8   .500 22 – 15   .595 Augusta State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 10   .444 16 – 27   .372 Radford  ‍‍‍ 4 – 10   .286 13 – 26   .333 UNC Asheville  ‍‍‍ 1 – 15   .063 9 – 32   .220 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Big Ten Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 19 Michigan  ‍†‍‍y 20 – 8   .714 48 – 19   .716 Minnesota  ‍‍‡‍y 17 – 11   .607 38 – 28   .576 Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 16 – 12   .571 41 – 20   .672 Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 16 – 12   .571 32 – 28   .533 Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 15 – 13   .536 28 – 27   .509 Iowa  ‍‍‍ 14 – 14   .500 29 – 25   .537 Illinois  ‍‍‍ 12 – 16   .429 26 – 20   .565 Indiana  ‍‍‍ 11 – 17   .393 39 – 29   .574 Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 11 – 17   .393 28 – 28   .500 Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 – 20   .286 26 – 34   .433 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Colonial Athletic Association baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT James Madison  ‍†‍‍y 13 – 1 – 0   .929 43 – 11 – 2   .786 George Mason  ‍‍‡‍y 8 – 6 – 0   .571 34 – 27 – 1   .556 East Carolina  ‍‍‍ 8 – 6 – 0   .571 33 – 14 – 0   .702 William & Mary  ‍‍‍ 5 – 9 – 0   .357 17 – 28 – 0   .378 UNC Wilmington  ‍‍‍ 4 – 10 – 0   .286 11 – 42 – 0   .208 Richmond  ‍‍‍ 4 – 10 – 0   .286 26 – 33 – 0   .441 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1988 Midwestern Collegiate Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Division Notre Dame x‍‍‍ 9 – 3   .750 39 – 22   .639 Detroit ‍‍‍ 8 – 8   .500 31 – 24   .564 Xavier ‍‍‍ 5 – 7   .417 19 – 37   .339 Dayton ‍‍‍ 2 – 10   .167 20 – 29   .408 South Division Evansville x‍†‍‡‍y 11 – 1   .917 44 – 20   .688 Butler ‍‍‍ 3 – 5   .375 15 – 26   .366 Saint Louis ‍‍‍ 2 – 6   .250 11 – 29   .275 x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 NCAA Division I baseball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 5 Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍y 0 – 0 – 0   – 52 – 14 – 1   .784 Delaware State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 25 – 11 – 0   .694 New Mexico State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 38 – 18 – 0   .679 FIU  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 40 – 19 – 0   .678 UCF  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 40 – 20 – 0   .667 Florida A&M  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 26 – 13 – 0   .667 No. 28 Tulane  ‍‍‍y 0 – 0 – 0   – 32 – 18 – 0   .640 Southwestern Louisiana  ‍‍‍y 0 – 0 – 0   – 30 – 18 – 0   .625 UMBC  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 25 – 16 – 0   .610 Nicholls State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 28 – 21 – 0   .571 Akron  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 28 – 31 – 0   .475 United States International  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 18 – 26 – 0   .409 Northern Colorado  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 19 – 28 – 0   .404 Chicago State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 18 – 29 – 0   .383 Liberty  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 18 – 32 – 0   .360 Boston University  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 7 – 17 – 0   .292 Bethune–Cookman  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 9 – 23 – 0   .281 Maryland Eastern Shore  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 7 – 24 – 0   .226 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Pacific-10 Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern No. 16 Washington State  x‍‍‍y 18 – 4   .818 52 – 14   .788 Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 14 – 10   .583 30 – 19   .612 Portland State  ‍‍‍ 12 – 9   .571 33 – 25   .569 Gonzaga  ‍‍‍ 12 – 11   .522 28 – 28   .500 Portland  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458 28 – 27   .509 Washington  ‍‍‍ 8 – 16   .333 17 – 28   .378 Eastern Washington  ‍‍‍ 6 – 18   .250 25 – 34   .424 Southern No. 2 Arizona State  x‍‍‍y 21 – 9   .700 60 – 13   .822 No. 1 Stanford  ‍‍‍y 18 – 12   .600 46 – 23   .667 No. 8 California  ‍‍‍y 16 – 14   .533 40 – 25   .615 No. 13 Southern California  ‍‍‍y 13 – 17   .433 36 – 26   .581 UCLA  ‍‍‍ 12 – 18   .400 31 – 28   .525 Arizona  ‍‍‍ 10 – 20   .333 33 – 26   .559 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1988 Pacific Coast Athletic Association baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT No. 7 Fresno State  ‍†‍‍y 20 – 1 – 0   .952 56 – 12 – 0   .824 No. 25 UNLV  ‍‍‍y 14 – 7 – 0   .667 40 – 22 – 0   .645 No. 3 Cal State Fullerton  ‍‍‍y 12 – 8 – 0   .600 43 – 18 – 0   .705 San Jose State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 11 – 0   .450 31 – 30 – 0   .508 UC Irvine  ‍‍‍ 9 – 12 – 0   .429 30 – 28 – 1   .517 Pacific  ‍‍‍ 9 – 12 – 0   .429 19 – 32 – 0   .373 UC Santa Barbara  ‍‍‍ 6 – 15 – 0   .286 23 – 39 – 0   .371 Long Beach State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 17 – 0   .190 14 – 45 – 0   .237 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Southeastern Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Florida  ‍†‍‡‍y 21 – 6   .778 48 – 19   .716 No. 14 Kentucky  ‍‍‍y 18 – 9   .667 38 – 25   .603 No. 23 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍y 17 – 10   .630 44 – 20   .688 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 16 – 10   .615 39 – 16   .709 LSU  ‍‍‍ 16 – 11   .593 39 – 21   .650 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 11 – 16   .407 29 – 28   .509 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 11 – 16   .407 30 – 23   .566 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 9 – 17   .346 27 – 26   .509 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 9 – 18   .333 21 – 29   .420 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 6 – 21   .222 24 – 29   .453 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1988 Southern Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern VMI  x‍‍‍ 11 – 7   .611 20 – 20   .500 Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 9 – 7   .563 29 – 17   .630 Marshall  ‍‍‍ 7 – 9   .438 23 – 17   .575 East Tennessee State  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389 16 – 35   .314 Southern Western Carolina  x‍‍‡‍y 14 – 3   .824 38 – 24   .613 The Citadel  ‍‍‍ 12 – 6   .667 33 – 20   .623 Davidson  ‍‍‍ 7 – 11   .389 28 – 26   .519 Furman  ‍‍‍ 2 – 15   .118 8 – 29   .216 x – Division champion ‡ – SoCon Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1988 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT East Georgia Southern x‍†‍‍ 13 – 4   .765 30 – 27   .526 No. 20 Stetson ‍‍‡‍y 9 – 8   .529 35 – 25   .583 Mercer ‍‍‍ 7 – 10   .412 24 – 25   .490 Samford ‍‍‍ 5 – 12   .294 8 – 49   .140 West Centenary x‍‍‍ 11 – 5   .688 30 – 20   .600 Arkansas–Little Rock ‍‍‍ 8 – 8   .500 27 – 29   .482 Hardin–Simmons ‍‍‍ 5 – 11   .313 30 – 30   .500 x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1988 Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

Main article: 1988 College World Series

The 1988 season marked the forty second NCAA baseball tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Stanford claiming their second championship with a 9–4 win over Arizona State in the final.

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Finals
	1	Arizona State	4
	8	California	2
						1	Arizona State	4
						4	Wichita State	7
	4	Wichita State	5
	5	Florida	4
											4	Wichita State	3	1
											1	Arizona State	410	19
	8	California	5
	5	Florida	6
						1	Arizona State	10
						5	Florida	1
																	1	Arizona State	4
																	7	Stanford	9
	7	Stanford	10
	2	Fresno State	3
						7	Stanford	3
						6	Cal State Fullerton	5
	6	Cal State Fullerton	9
	3	Miami (FL)	3
											6	Cal State Fullerton	1	5
											7	Stanford	3	9
	2	Fresno State	4
	3	Miami (FL)	812
						7	Stanford	2
						3	Miami (FL)	1

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1988 College Baseball All-America Team