1979 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1979 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 1979. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1979 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the thirty third time in 1979, 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. Cal State Fullerton claimed the championship for the first time.[1]

1979 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams	246
NCAA Tournament
College World Series
Champions	Cal State Fullerton (1st title)
Runners-up	Arkansas (1st CWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Augie Garrido (1st title)
MOP	Tony Hudson (Cal State Fullerton)
Seasons

Conference winners

This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1979 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Seven regionals of four teams and one of six each competed in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. 21 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 13 teams earned at-large selections.[1][2] The Trans America Athletic Conference, as a new league, did not earn an automatic bid.

Conference	Regular Season Winner	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue • City	Tournament Winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	No Tournament
Big Eight Conference	East - Oklahoma West - Missouri	1979 Big Eight Conference Baseball Tournament	All Sports Stadium • Oklahoma City, OK	Oklahoma
Big Ten Conference	Michigan State	No Tournament
Eastern 8		1979 Eastern 8 Conference Baseball Tournament	Hershey, PA	George Washington
ECAC		1979 Eastern College Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament	Worcester, MA	Connecticut
EIBL	Navy	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Miami (OH)	No Tournament
Pacific-10 Conference	North - Washington State South - UCLA	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	East - Florida West - Mississippi State	1979 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament	Dudy Noble Field • Starkville, MS	Mississippi State
SCBA	Cal State Fullerton	No Tournament
Southern Conference	The Citadel	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	1979 Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament	Disch–Falk Field • Austin, TX	Texas
Trans America Athletic Conference	N/A	1979 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament	Centenary Park • Shreveport, LA	Mercer

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1979 Eastern College Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Metropolitan Seton Hall  ‍‍‍^y –   –     32 – 11   .744 No. 28 St. John's  ‍‍‍^y –   –     26 – 11   .703 Fordham  ‍‍‍ –   –     18 – 13   .581 Canisius  ‍‍‍ –   –     8 – 20   .286 New England Maine  ‍‍‍ –   –     23 – 9   .719 No. 8 Connecticut  ‍‍‡‍^y –   –     31 – 13   .705 Fairfield  ‍‍‍ –   –     21 – 12   .636 UMass  ‍‍‍ –   –     24 – 17   .585 Holy Cross  ‍‍‍ –   –     16 – 13   .552 Providence  ‍‍‍ –   –     14 – 13   .519 South George Washington  ‍‍‍^y –   –     22 – 9   .710 James Madison  ‍‍‍ –   –     31 – 13   .705 Richmond  ‍‍‍ –   –     23 – 18   .561 Catholic University  ‍‍‍ –   –     16 – 15   .516 Old Dominion  ‍‍‍ –   –     16 – 30   .348 Georgetown  ‍‍‍ –   –     8 – 23   .258 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1979[3]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Southeastern Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Eastern Division No. 19 Florida  ^x‍‍‍^y 16 – 8   .667     40 – 20   .667 Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 13 – 11   .542     29 – 18   .617 Georgia  ‍‍‍ 11 – 11   .500     24 – 18   .571 Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 10 – 14   .417     25 – 22   .532 Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 8 – 14   .364     21 – 25   .457 Western Division No. 6 Mississippi State  ^x‍‍‡‍^y 17 – 2   .895     48 – 12   .800 LSU  ‍‍‍ 13 – 7   .650     34 – 20   .630 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 9 – 10   .474     24 – 13   .649 Auburn  ‍‍‍ 7 – 14   .333     21 – 21   .500 Alabama  ‍‍‍ 4 – 17   .190     18 – 27   .400 x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1979[4]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Southern California Baseball Association standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT #1 Cal State Fullerton †^y  ‍‍‍ 23 – 4   .852     60 – 14   .811 No. 3 Pepperdine  ‍‍‍^y 19 – 9   .679     47 – 16   .746 Long Beach State  ‍‍‍ 17 – 10   .630     40 – 22   .645 San Diego  ‍‍‍ 14 – 12   .538     32 – 19   .627 Loyola Marymount  ‍‍‍ 12 – 16   .429     29 – 34   .460 Cal State Los Angeles  ‍‍‍ 9 – 19   .321     25 – 39   .391 UC Irvine  ‍‍‍ 8 – 19   .296     22 – 37   .373 UC Santa Barbara  ‍‍‍ 7 – 20   .259     17 – 31   .354 † – Conference champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1979[5]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1979 Southwest Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT No. 4 Texas  ‍†‍‡‍^y 22 – 2   .917     61 – 8   .884 No. 2 Arkansas  ‍‍‍^y 19 – 5   .792     49 – 15   .766 Baylor  ‍‍‍ 13 – 9   .591     34 – 15   .694 Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 13 – 10   .565     30 – 20   .600 Houston  ‍‍‍ 11 – 13   .458     27 – 17   .614 Texas Tech  ‍‍‍ 9 – 15   .375     16 – 23   .410 Southern Methodist  ‍‍‍ 7 – 16   .304     21 – 26   .447 Texas Christian  ‍‍‍ 7 – 17   .292     21 – 24   .467 Rice  ‍‍‍ 5 – 19   .208     20 – 29   .408 † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1979[6]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT Mercer ‍‍‡‍ 0 – 0   –     38 – 16   .704 Oklahoma City ‍‍‍ 0 – 0   –     31 – 23   .574 Centenary ‍‍‍ 0 – 0   –     28 – 19   .596 Northeast Louisiana ‍‍‍ 0 – 0   –     22 – 26   .458 Hardin–Simmons ‍‍‍ 0 – 0   –     14 – 25   .359 ‡ – Tournament champion As of June 30, 1979[7]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

The 1979 season marked the thirty third 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 Cal State Fullerton claiming their first championship with a 2–1 win over Arkansas in the final.[1]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Arkansas	5
		Pepperdine	4
							Arkansas	10
							Arizona	3
		Arizona	5
		Miami (FL)	1
												Arkansas	9
												Texas	4
		Texas	11
		Connecticut	5
							Texas	8
							Mississippi State	2
		Mississippi State	6
		Cal State Fullerton	1
						Loser's Bracket
							Pepperdine	9
							Miami (FL)	3				Mississippi State	4
												Pepperdine	5^10
							Connecticut	3
							Cal State Fullerton	8				Arizona	3
												Cal State Fullerton	16

	Semifinals					Finals					if needed
	Re-ordered Semi-finals
		Arkansas	10									Cal State Fullerton	2
		Cal State Fullerton	13									Arkansas	1
							Cal State Fullerton	8
							Pepperdine	5
		Texas	4
		Pepperdine	6

Award winners

All-America team

Main article: 1979 College Baseball All-America Team

References

1. W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart (2004). The College World Series:A Baseball History, 1947-2003. McFarland & Co. pp. 41–43. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
2. "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
3. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1979". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
4. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1979". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1979". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
6. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1979". Boyds World. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
7. Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2013.