The 2014 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 14, 2014. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2014 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended on June 25, 2014, with the final game of the best-of-three championship series between Vanderbilt and Virginia, won by Vanderbilt.
Realignment
There were many significant conference changes that took effect prior to the season. Notre Dame and Pittsburgh departed the original Big East for the ACC, joining the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions respectively, and making that a 14-team conference for baseball (the other 2013 arrival in the ACC, Syracuse, does not sponsor baseball). The Big East split into two leagues: The legal successor, composed of Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Rutgers, and South Florida, along with Conference USA departures Houston, Memphis, Temple, and UCF, formed the American. Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Villanova joined with Butler and Xavier from the Atlantic 10 and Creighton of the MVC to reform the Big East. The Great West Conference ceased operations after all but two baseball members secured a place in other conferences. Full member NJIT and baseball affiliate NYIT became Division I Independents. George Mason moved from the CAA to the Atlantic 10. College of Charleston moved from the Southern Conference to the CAA. Conference USA replaced its departing members with Florida Atlantic, FIU, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas of the Sun Belt, Louisiana Tech and UTSA of the WAC, Old Dominion from the CAA and Charlotte from the Atlantic 10. Oakland moved from The Summit League to the Horizon League. The MAAC added Quinnipiac and Monmouth, both formerly of the NEC. San Jose State moved from the WAC to the Mountain West. Dallas Baptist shifted its baseball-only membership in the WAC to the MVC. New Orleans joined the Southland after previously playing as an Independent. Houston Baptist departed the Great West to join the Southland. The Sun Belt added former WAC members Texas State and Texas–Arlington, plus Georgia State from the CAA. Former Great West full members Utah Valley, Chicago State, Texas–Pan American, as well as associate members North Dakota and Northern Colorado, joined the WAC. Pacific rejoined the West Coast Conference, a league in which it was a charter member. The Tigers departed the Big West Conference, now a nine-team league.
This was also the final season for several teams in their then-current leagues: Maryland would leave the ACC for the Big Ten. Louisville and Rutgers would spend only the 2014 season in The American; they respectively left for the ACC and Big Ten. A third team from The American, Temple, announced that it would drop the sport after the season. East Carolina and Tulane would leave C-USA for The American. Western Kentucky would leave the Sun Belt for C-USA Appalachian State, Davidson, Georgia Southern, and Elon would all leave the Southern Conference (SoCon). Appalachian State and Georgia Southern joined the Sun Belt, Davidson the Atlantic 10, and Elon the CAA. East Tennessee State and Mercer would leave the Atlantic Sun for the SoCon. ETSU returned to the SoCon after a nine-year absence. VMI would leave the Big South and return to the SoCon after an 11-year absence. Oral Roberts would return to The Summit League after two seasons in the Southland.
Reclassifications from Division II UMass Lowell joined the America East. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word joined the Southland. Grand Canyon joined the WAC.
Eligibility investigations The Philadelphia Phillies selected college juniors Ben Wetzler of Oregon State University in the fifth round and Jason Monda of the University of Washington in the sixth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. Both entered into negotiations with the Phillies with the help of a financial adviser, which is against National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, but is "something that reportedly happens all the time". Both also chose to return to college for their senior year. The Phillies reported Wetzler and Monda to the NCAA, which cleared Monda and suspended Wetzler for the first 11 games, which is 20%, of the college season.
Season outlook
Collegiate Baseball News RankingTeam12Mississippi State34Oregon State5Florida State67Indiana8Louisville9Vanderbilt101112Virginia1314South Carolina15UCLA16Florida171819TCU20Texas21Clemson2223Louisiana–Lafayette24Arizona25 Baseball AmericaRankingTeam1Virginia2Oregon State3Indiana456Florida State7South Carolina8Mississippi State910Vanderbilt1112UCLA13Clemson14Louisiana–Lafayette15161718Texas19TCU20Louisville21Alabama2223Florida2425Arkansas CoachesRankingTeam1 182 63Oregon State4Mississippi State 45Florida State6Virginia78Vanderbilt910UCLA11Indiana1213Louisville14South Carolina1516Clemson17181920Florida2122Texas23TCU24Louisiana–Lafayette25 NCBWARankingTeam12Virginia3Oregon State4Mississippi State5Florida State67Indiana89UCLA10Vanderbilt1112South Carolina1314Louisville1516Clemson1718192021Florida22TCU2324Louisiana–Lafayette25Texas
Conference standings
Conference winners and tournaments Twenty-nine athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament or a double-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. ConferenceRegularSeason WinnerConferencePlayer of the YearConferenceCoach of the YearConferenceTournamentTournamentVenue (City)TournamentWinnerAmerica East Conference Kevin Krause, Stony Brook Matt Senk, Stony Brook 2014 America East Conference baseball tournament Edward A. LeLacheur Park • Lowell, MA American Athletic Conference Louisville Jeff Gardner, Louisville Terry Rooney, UCF 2014 American Athletic Conference baseball tournament Bright House Field • Clearwater, FL HoustonAtlantic 10 Conference Collin Forgey, Saint Joseph's Fritz Hamburg, Saint Joseph's 2014 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament Billiken Sports Center • St. Louis, MO Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic - Florida StateCoastal - D. J. Stewart, Florida State Brian O'Connor, Virginia 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament NewBridge Bank Park • Greensboro, NC Atlantic Sun Conference Max Pentecost, Kennesaw State Dave Tollett, Florida Gulf Coast 2014 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament Swanson Stadium • Fort Myers, FL Big 12 Conference Zach Fish, Oklahoma State Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State 2014 Big 12 Conference baseball tournament Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark • Oklahoma City, OK TCUBig East Conference Reagan Fowler, Creighton andD. J. Ruhlman, Seton Hall Ed Servais, Creighton 2014 Big East Conference baseball tournament MCU Park • Brooklyn, NY Big South Conference North - South - Ryan Seiz, Liberty Jim Toman, Liberty 2014 Big South Conference baseball tournament Winthrop Ballpark • Rock Hill, SC Big Ten Conference Indiana Sam Travis, Indiana Tracy Smith, Indiana 2014 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament TD Ameritrade Park Omaha • Omaha, NE IndianaBig West Conference Mark Mathias, Cal Poly Larry Lee, Cal Poly No tournament, regular season champion earns auto bidColonial Athletic Association Michael Katz, William & Mary Brian Murphy, William & Mary 2014 Colonial Athletic Association baseball tournament Brooks Field • Wilmington, NC Conference USA Aramis Garcia, Brian Shoop, 2014 Conference USA baseball tournament Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, MS Horizon League Ryan Solberg, Greg Lovelady, Wright State 2014 Horizon League baseball tournament Kapco Park • Milwaukee, WI Ivy League Gehrig - /Rolfe - / Alec Keller, 2014 Ivy League Baseball Championship Series Campus Sites Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Connor Panas, Canisius Mike McRae, Canisius 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference baseball tournament FirstEnergy Park • Lakewood, NJ Mid-American Conference East - West - Sean Godfrey, Ball State Rich Maloney, Ball State 2014 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament All Pro Freight Stadium • Avon, OH Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Northern - Delaware StateSouthern - / Bennie Robinson, Florida A&M Jamey Shouppe, Florida A&M 2014 Mid–Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Marty L. Miller Field • Norfolk, VA Missouri Valley Conference Casey Gillaspie, Wes Carroll, Evansville 2014 Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium • Terre Haute, IN Mountain West Conference / Jordan Luplow, Tim Chambers, UNLV 2014 Mountain West Conference baseball tournament Earl E. Wilson Stadium • Paradise, NV Northeast Conference John Ziznewski, Steve Owens, Bryant 2014 Northeast Conference baseball tournament Dodd Stadium • Norwich, CT Ohio Valley Conference Matt Tellor, Southeast Missouri State Steve Bieser, Southeast Missouri State 2014 Ohio Valley Conference baseball tournament The Ballpark at Jackson • Jackson, TN Pac-12 Conference Oregon State Michael Conforto, Oregon State Lindsay Meggs, No tournament, regular season champion earns auto bidPatriot League / Kash Manzelli, Scott Heather, Bucknell 2014 Patriot League baseball tournament Campus Sites Southeastern Conference East – FloridaWest – Mississippi A. J. Reed, Kentucky Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida 2014 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament Hoover Metropolitan Stadium • Hoover, AL Southern Conference Forrest Brandt, & Casey Jones, Dick Cooke, Davidson 2014 Southern Conference baseball tournament Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park • Charleston, SC Southland Conference Sam Houston State Anthony Azar, Sam Houston State Seth Thibodeaux, 2014 Southland Conference baseball tournament Bear Stadium • Conway, AR Southwestern Athletic Conference East - West - Emmanuel Marrero, Alabama State Mervyl Melendez, Alabama State 2014 Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament Wesley Barrow Stadium • New Orleans, LA The Summit League Tim Colwell, Bob Herold, Omaha 2014 Summit League baseball tournament Erv Huether Field • Brookings, SD Sun Belt Conference Louisiana-Lafayette Jace Conrad, Louisiana-Lafayette Tony Robichaux, Louisiana-Lafayette 2014 Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament Eddie Stanky Field • Mobile, AL Louisiana-LafayetteWest Coast Conference Connor Joe, Steve Rodriguez, Pepperdine 2014 West Coast Conference baseball tournament Banner Island Ballpark • Stockton, CA Western Athletic Conference Rhys Hoskins, Sacramento State Reggie Christiansen, Sacramento State 2014 Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament Cubs Park • Mesa, AZ
College World Series
The 2014 season marked the sixty eighth 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 Commodores claiming their first championship with a two games to one series win over Virginia in the final.
Bracket
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
Major player of the year awards Dick Howser Trophy: A. J. Reed, Kentucky Baseball America: A. J. Reed, Kentucky Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger: A. J. Reed, Kentucky American Baseball Coaches Association: A. J. Reed, Kentucky Golden Spikes Award: A. J. Reed, Kentucky
Major freshman of the year awards Baseball America Freshman Of The Year: Zach Collins, Miami Collegiate Baseball Freshman Player of the Year: Jake Noll, Florida Gulf Coast Collegiate Baseball Freshman Pitcher of the Year: Zach Plesac, Ball State
Major coach of the year awards