1955 NCAA Baseball Tournament

1955 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
Teams	8
College World Series Site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, NE
Champions	Wake Forest (1st title)
Runner-Up	Western Michigan (2nd CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Taylor Sanford (1st title)
MOP	Tom Borland (Oklahoma A&M)
NCAA Baseball Tournaments «1954 1956»

The 1955 NCAA Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1955 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 ninth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 25 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.^[1] The College World Series was held in Omaha, NE from June 10 to June 16. The ninth tournament's champion was Wake Forest, coached by Taylor Sanford. The Most Outstanding Player was Tom Borland of Oklahoma A&M.

Tournament

District 1

Games played at Springfield, Massachusetts.

	Semi-Finals					Finals
	Springfield		4
	Boston College		3
						Springfield		17
						Massachusetts		6
	Massachusetts		1
	Holy Cross		0

District 2

Games played in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

	Semi-Finals					Finals
	Colgate		7
	Penn State		4
						Colgate		7
						Ithaca		6
	Ithaca		5
	Lafayette		0

District 3

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

Games played at Morgantown, West Virginia.

	Series 1
		Rollins	0	2	-
		Wake Forest	4	6	-

	Series 2
		Wake Forest	5	7	6
		West Virginia	1	9	5

District 4

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

Games played at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

	Series 1
		Alma	9	0	4
		Western Michigan	8	3	15

	Series 2
		Western Michigan	1*	5	7
		Ohio State	0*	8	5

District 5

Games played in Norman, Oklahoma.

	3 Game Series
		Oklahoma A&M	0	6	6
		Oklahoma	3	3	2

District 6

Games played at Tucson, Arizona.

	3 Game Series
		Texas A&M	2	5	1
		Arizona	6	0	2

District 7

Games played at Greeley, Colorado.

	3 Game Series
		Wyoming	8	13	5
		Colorado State	17	7	12

District 8

District 8 consisted of two tiers of play. The first tier was a four-team double-elimination tournament with the winner moving on to play Southern California in a three-game series. The winner of that series moved onto the College World Series.

Games played at Fresno, California.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Finals
		Fresno State	6
		Willamette	3
							Fresno St.	1
							San Jose State	3
		San Jose State	9
		Pepperdine	2
												San Jose State	4	1
											Fresno State	9	5
		Willamette	11
		Pepperdine	14
							Fresno State	8
							Pepperdine	7

Games played at Los Angeles, California.

	3 Game Series
		Fresno St.	2	2	-
		Southern California	11	15	-

College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	CWS appearances	CWS best finish	CWS record
Arizona	–	41–6	Frank Sancet	1 (last: 1954)	6th (1954)	1–2
Colgate	–	16–6–1	Red O'Hora	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Colorado State[lower-alpha 1]	–	24–2	Pete Butler	2 (last: 1953)	7th (1953)	0–4
Oklahoma A&M	MVIAA	24–1 (8–0, 0 GB)	Toby Greene	1 (last: 1954)	4th (1954)	2–2
Springfield	–	14–5	Archie Allen	1 (last: 1951)	5th (1951)	1–2
USC	CIBA	30–8 (14–2, 0 GB)	Rod Dedeaux	3 (last: 1951)	1st (1948)	5–5
Wake Forest	ACC	24–6 (11–3, 0 GB)	Taylor Sanford	1 (last: 1949)	2nd (1949)	2–2
Western Michigan	MAC	22–5 (9–0, 0 GB)	Charlie Maher	1 (last: 1952)	3rd (1952)	2–2

Bracket and Results

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round
	Winner's Bracket
		Oklahoma A&M	5
		Springfield	1
							Oklahoma A&M	4
							Western Michigan	5
		Western Michigan	4
		Arizona	1
												Western Michigan	9
												Wake Forest	0
		Colorado State	2
		Southern California	1
							Colorado State	0
							Wake Forest	10
		Wake Forest	1
		Colgate	0
						Loser's Bracket
							Springfield	0
							Arizona	6				Colorado State	0
												Arizona	20
							Southern California	4
							Colgate	6				Oklahoma A&M	4
												Colgate	2

Semifinals

Finals

if needed

Re-ordered Semi-finals

Western Michigan

7

Western Michigan

6

Wake Forest

10

Wake Forest

7

Wake Forest

2

Oklahoma A&M

0

Arizona

4*

Oklahoma A&M

5*

* - Indicates game required 12 innings.

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 10	Game 1	Oklahoma A&M	5–1	Springfield
	Game 2	Western Michigan	4–1	Arizona
	Game 3	Colorado State	2–1	Southern California
	Game 4	Wake Forest	1–0	Colgate
June 12	Game 5	Arizona	6–0	Springfield	Springfield eliminated
	Game 6	Colgate	6–4	USC	Southern California eliminated
	Game 7	Western Michigan	5–4	Oklahoma A&M
	Game 8	Wake Forest	10–0	Colorado State
June 13	Game 9	Arizona	20–0	Colorado State	Colorado State eliminated
	Game 10	Oklahoma A&M	4–2	Colgate	Colgate eliminated
	Game 11	Western Michigan	9–0	Wake Forest
June 14	Game 12	Oklahoma A&M	5–4 (12 innings)	Arizona	Arizona eliminated
	Game 13	Wake Forest	10–7	Western Michigan
June 15	Game 14	Wake Forest	2–0	Oklahoma A&M	Oklahoma A&M eliminated
June 16	Final	Wake Forest	7–6	Western Michigan	Wake Forest wins CWS

Tournament Notes

• In 1996, coach Rod Dedeaux of USC was named to the College World Series All-Time Team (1947–95) by the Oklahoma World-Herald as part of the 50th CWS celebration.
• In 1996, Tom Borland of Oklahoma A&M, now known as Oklahoma State, was named to the 1940s-50s All-Decade Team by a panel of 60 voters representing CWS head coaches, media, and chairs of the Division I Baseball Committee.
• Freed Messner of Western Michigan hit the only pinch-hit grand slam home run in CWS history in the top of the 8th of Game 13 in a 10-7 loss to Wake Forest. It was also Messner's only hit of the CWS (1-12).
• Two-hitters were pitched by: Lawrence Bossidy of Colgate in a 1-0 loss to Wake Forest; Carl Thomas of Arizona in a 6-0 defeat of Springfield; Ken Kinnamon and Don Anderson of Oklahoma A&M in a 5-4 loss to Western Michigan; and Sam Frankel and Lawrence Bossidy of Colgate in a 4-2 loss to Oklahoma A&M.
• Through the 2013 tournament, Wake Forest's championship remains the most recent occurrence that a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference won the CWS. The University of Miami, a current ACC member, has won four CWS titles, but all before joining the conference.
• 21,843 fans watched the CWS (10 sessions).
• The championship game was umpired by Walter Doyle, Walter Harbour, George Hametz, and John Hergert.
• The following records were set or tied:
  • Most Stolen Bases, Team, CWS - 17, Oklahoma A&M, 5 games
  • Most Shutouts, All Teams, CWS - 6, Arizona (2), Wake Forest (3), Western Michigan, tied
  • Most Doubles, Individual, Single Game - 3, Jack Bryant, 2B, Wake Forest, tied (6 others)
  • Most Sacrifice Bunts, Individual, Single Game - 3, Leland Davis, SS, Western Michigan, tied
  • Most Stolen Bases, Team, Single Game - 7, Wake Forest, tied (4 others)
  • Fewest Assists, Team, Single Game - 3, Oklahoma A&M, tied (6 others)
  • Most Errors, Team, Single Game - 9, Northern Colorado, tied
  • Most Shutouts, Team, CWS - 3, Wake Forest, 6 games

Notes

References

See also

• NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 NCAA Division I College World Series