1955 NCAA baseball tournament
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.[2]
| Season | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 25 |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Wake Forest (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Western Michigan (2nd CWS Appearance) |
| Winning coach | Taylor Sanford (1st title) |
| MOP | Tom Borland (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.
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 5 | 7 | 6 | ||||||||
| Rollins | 0 | 2 | – | West Virginia | 1 | 9 | 5 | ||||
| Wake Forest | 4 | 6 | – | ||||||||
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.
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||
| Alma | 9 | 0 | 4 | Ohio State | 010 | 8 | 5 | ||||
| Western Michigan | 8 | 3 | 15 | ||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | |||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Willamette | 11 | Pepperdine | 7 | |||||||||||
| Pepperdine | 14 | |||||||||||||
Games played at Los Angeles, California.
| Finals | |||||
| Fresno State | 2 | 2 | - | ||
| Southern California | 11 | 15 | - | ||
College World Series
Participants
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | CWS appearances | CWS best finish | CWS record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Border | 41–6 (6–0) | Frank Sancet | 1 (last: 1954) | 6th (1954) | 1–2 |
| Colgate | Independent | 16–6–1 | Red O'Hora | 0 (last: none) | none | 0–0 |
| Colorado State College[lower-alpha 1] | RMC | 24–2 (10–0) | Pete Butler | 2 (last: 1953) | 7th (1953) | 0–4 |
| Oklahoma A&M | MVC | 24–1 (8–0) | Toby Greene | 1 (last: 1954) | 4th (1954) | 2–2 |
| Springfield | Independent | 14–5 | Archie Allen | 1 (last: 1951) | 5th (1951) | 1–2 |
| Southern California | CIBA | 30–8 (14–2) | Rod Dedeaux | 3 (last: 1951) | 1st (1948) | 5–5 |
| Wake Forest | ACC | 24–6 (11–3) | Taylor Sanford | 1 (last: 1949) | 2nd (1949) | 2–2 |
| Western Michigan | MAC | 22–5 (9–0) | Charlie Maher | 1 (last: 1952) | 3rd (1952) | 2–2 |
Bracket and Results
| Upper round 1 | Upper round 2 | Upper final | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Final | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 College | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern California | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado State College | 0 | Wake Forest | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colgate | 0 | Western Michigan | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wake Forest | 2 | Wake Forest | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Oklahoma A&M | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado State College | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Springfield | 0 | Arizona | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 512 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern California | 4 | Colgate | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colgate | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 College | 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 | Southern California | Southern California eliminated | |
| Game 7 | Western Michigan | 5–4 | Oklahoma A&M | ||
| Game 8 | Wake Forest | 10–0 | Colorado State College | ||
| June 13 | Game 9 | Arizona | 20–0 | Colorado State College | Colorado State College 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.
- Wake Forest's championship was the last time that a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference won the CWS until the University of Virginia in 2015.
- 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, Colorado State College, tied
- Most Shutouts, Team, CWS - 3, Wake Forest, 6 games
Notes
- Colorado State College is currently known as the University of Northern Colorado. Not to be confused with Colorado State University, then known as Colorado A&M.
References
- "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 196. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
- "1955 College World Series". Omaha.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.