1954 NCAA baseball tournament

1954 NCAA I
baseball tournament

Season	1954
Teams	24
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Missouri (1st title)
Runner-up	Rollins (1st CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Hi Simmons (1st title)
MOP	Tom Yewcic (Michigan State)

The 1954 NCAA baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1954 NCAA 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 eighth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series, but for the first time the preliminary tournament rounds hosted by each district were sanctioned NCAA events. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 24 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 10 to June 16. The eighth tournament's champion was Missouri, coached by John "Hi" Simmons. The Most Outstanding Player was Tom Yewcic of Michigan State.

Tournament

District 1

Games played in Springfield, Massachusetts.

	Semifinals				Finals
	UMass	9*
	Springfield	7*
					UMass	2
					Boston University	0
	Boston University	8
	Holy Cross	3

District 2

Games played at Allentown, Pennsylvania.

	Semifinals				Finals
	St. John's	4
	Navy	2
					St. John's (NY)	0
					Lafayette	9
	Lafayette	4
	Villanova	3

District 3

District 3 consisted of two separate 3-game series. The first series was played between Virginia Tech and Clemson, with the winner moving on to play Rollins in a three-game series. The winner of that series moved on to the College World Series.

• In the semifinal series, the first game was played in Clemson, South Carolina, and the second game was played in Blacksburg, Virginia. Both final series games were played in Winter Park, Florida.

	Semifinal						Final
							Virginia Tech	0	3	–
	Virginia Tech	11	7	–			Rollins	3	9	–
	Clemson	10	1	–

District 4

District 4 consisted of two separate 3 game series'. The first series was played between Ohio and Ashland, with the winner moving on to play Michigan St. in a three-game series. The winner of that series moved on to the College World Series.

• Games played at Athens, Ohio.

	Semifinal						Final
							Ohio	10	7	3
	Ashland	4	6	–			Michigan State	14	0	5
	Ohio	18	10	–

District 5

• Missouri (Automatic College World Series qualifier)

District 6

Games played at Austin, Texas.

	District 6 Series
	Oklahoma State	6	12	7
	Texas	3	16	6

District 7

Games played at Greeley, Colorado.

	Game 1
	Arizona	8
	Colorado State College	2

	Game 2
	Colorado State College	21
	Wyoming	14

	Game 3
	Arizona	16
	Wyoming	9

	Final
	Arizona	811
	Colorado State College	511

District 8

Games played at Eugene, Oregon.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
	Oregon		9
	Seattle		4
						Oregon		9
						Fresno State		5
	Fresno State		9
	Southern California		3
											Oregon		15	—
											Fresno State		05	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Fresno State		7
	Seattle		0			Southern California		4
	Southern California		9

College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	CWS appearances	CWS best finish	CWS record
Arizona	Border	39–7 (2–0)	Frank Sancet	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Lafayette	Independent	16–6	Charlie Gelbert	1 (last: 1953)	3rd (1953)	3–2
UMass	Yankee	14–5 (4–2)	Earl Lorden	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Michigan State	Big 10	22–8–1 (11–2)	John Kobs	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Missouri	Big Seven	17–3 (11–1)	Hi Simmons	1 (last: 1952)	2nd (1952)	3–2
Oklahoma A&M	MVC	16–9 (8–1)	Toby Greene	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Oregon	PCC	18–6 (11–5)	Don Kirsch	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Rollins	Independent	22–6	Joe Justice	0 (last: none)	none	0–0

Results

Bracket

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Preliminary final					Final
	Michigan State		16
	UMass		5
						Michigan State		2
						Arizona		1
	Arizona		12
	Oregon		1
											Michigan State		4
											Rollins		5
	Rollins		911
																Rollins		2
	Oklahoma A&M		5
						Rollins		4								Michigan State		310
						Missouri		1
	Missouri		5
	Lafayette		3																							Rollins		1
																					Michigan State		3			Missouri		4
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Missouri		4
											Missouri		8
						UMass		5			UMass		1
																Missouri		7
						Oregon		3
																Oklahoma A&M		3
											Arizona		4
						Oklahoma A&M		4			Oklahoma A&M		514
						Lafayette		2

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 10	Game 1	Michigan State	16–5	UMass
	Game 2	Arizona	12–1	Oregon
June 11	Game 3	Rollins	9–5 (11)	Oklahoma A&M
June 10	Game 4	Missouri	5–3	Lafayette
June 11	Game 5	UMass	5–3	Oregon	Oregon eliminated
	Game 6	Oklahoma A&M	4–2	Lafayette	Lafayette eliminated
	Game 7	Michigan State	2–1	Arizona
	Game 8	Rollins	4–1	Missouri
June 12	Game 9	Missouri	8–1	UMass	UMass eliminated
	Game 10	Oklahoma A&M	5–4 (14)	Arizona	Arizona eliminated
	Game 11	Rollins	5–4	Michigan State
June 13	Game 12	Missouri	7–3	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma A&M eliminated
	Game 13	Michigan State	3–2 (10)	Rollins
June 14	Game 14	Missouri	4–3	Michigan State	Michigan State eliminated
June 16	Final	Missouri	4–1	Rollins	Missouri wins CWS

Notable players

• Arizona: Don Gile, Don Lee, Carl Thomas
• Lafayette:
• UMass:
• Michigan State: Bob Anderson, Ed Hobaugh, Jack Kralick, Leroy Powell, George Smith, Bill Stewart, Tom Yewcic
• Missouri: Jay Hankins, Jerry Schoonmaker, Norm Stewart
• Oklahoma A&M: Tom Borland
• Oregon: George Shaw
• Rollins: