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 v t e 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 NCAA Division I baseball independents standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 7 Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍y –   – 55 – 11   .833 No. 11 Hawaii  ‍‍‍y –   – 69 – 15   .821 No. 23 Texas–Pan American  ‍‍‍y –   – 52 – 12   .813 Air Force  ‍‍‍ –   – 33 – 13   .717 No. 27 Florida State  ‍‍‍y –   – 43 – 17   .717 Mercer  ‍‍‍ –   – 38 – 16   .704 Villanova  ‍‍‍ –   – 16 – 9   .640 Detroit  ‍‍‍ –   – 34 – 22   .607 No. 11 Gonzaga  ‍‍‍ –   – 25 – 17   .595 Stetson  ‍‍‍ –   – 26 – 24   .520 Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍ –   – 15 – 16   .484 Campbell  ‍‍‍ –   – 17 – 20   .459 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍ –   – 14 – 19   .424 Louisville  ‍‍‍ –   – 18 – 27   .400 Northern Iowa  ‍‍‍ –   – 11 – 17   .393 Lafayette  ‍‍‍ –   – 9 – 15   .375 Hofstra  ‍‍‍ –   – 6 – 18   .250 y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1979[4] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Pacific-10 Conference baseball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northern No. 29 Washington State  x‍‍‍ 12 – 3   .800 40 – 10   .800 Washington  ‍‍‍ 11 – 5   .688 37 – 13   .740 Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 4 – 11   .267 21 – 19   .525 Oregon  ‍‍‍ 3 – 11   .214 14 – 27   .341 Southern No. 9 UCLA  x‍‍‍y 21 – 9   .700 43 – 18   .705 No. 5 Arizona  ‍‍‍y 17 – 13   .567 43 – 25   .632 California  ‍‍‍ 16 – 14   .533 31 – 25   .554 Southern California  ‍‍‍ 15 – 15   .500 33 – 24   .579 Stanford  ‍‍‍ 13 – 17   .433 35 – 23   .603 Arizona State  ‍‍‍ 8 – 22   .267 32 – 31   .508 x – Division champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1979[5] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1979 Southeastern Conference baseball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Division No. 19 Florida  x‍‍‍y 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[6] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Southern California Baseball Association standings v t e 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[7] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball	1979 Southwest Conference baseball standings v t e 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[8] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1979 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings v t e 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[9] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

Main article: 1979 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]

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Preliminary final					Final
	Arkansas		5
	Pepperdine		4
						Arkansas		10
						Arizona		3
	Arizona		5
	Miami (FL)		1
											Arkansas		9
											Texas		4
	Texas		11
																Arkansas		10
	Connecticut		5
						Texas		8								Cal State Fullerton		13
						Mississippi State		2
	Mississippi State		6
	Cal State Fullerton		1																							Cal State Fullerton		2
																					Cal State Fullerton		8			Arkansas		1
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Pepperdine		5
											Mississippi State		4
						Pepperdine		9			Pepperdine		510
																Texas		4
						Miami (FL)		3
																Pepperdine		6
											Arizona		3
						Connecticut		3			Cal State Fullerton		16
						Cal State Fullerton		8

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. ISBN 9780786418428. 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". Boyd's World. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
5. "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1979". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
6. "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1979". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
7. "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1979". Boyd's World. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
8. "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1979". Boyds World. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
9. Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2013.