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. 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.

Atlantic Regional Games played at Coral Gables, Florida.

Mideast Regional Games played at East Lansing, Michigan.

East Regional Games played at Tallahassee, Florida

Midwest Regional Games played at Tucson, Arizona.

Central Regional Games played at Austin, Texas.

South Regional Games played at Starkville, Mississippi.

West Regional Games played at Fresno, California.

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 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

Game results Date Game Winner Score Loser Notes June 1 Game 1 Arkansas 5–4 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 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 5–4 (10 innings) Mississippi State Mississippi State eliminated June 5 Game 11 Arkansas 9–4 Texas June 6 Game 12 6–4 Texas Texas eliminated Game 13 Cal State Fullerton 13–10 Arkansas June 7 Game 14 Cal State Fullerton 8–5 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 School P Tony Hudson (MOP) Cal State Fullerton Steve Krueger Arkansas C Kurt Kingsolver Cal State Fullerton 1B Tim Wallach Cal State Fullerton 2B Mike Gates Pepperdine 3B Dan Hanggie Cal State Fullerton SS Larry Wallace Arkansas OF Marc Brumble Arkansas Kevin McReynolds Arkansas Joseph Bruno Texas DH Keith Walker 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,Paul Martin, 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).

See also 1979 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 1979 NCAA Division III baseball tournament 1979 NAIA World Series

References