1973 NCAA University Division baseball tournament

The 1973 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1973 NCAA University Division 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 twenty-seventh year.

1973 NCAA University Division
baseball tournament

Season	1973
Teams	32
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Omaha, Nebraska
Champions	Southern California (9th title)
Runner-up	Arizona State (6th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Rod Dedeaux (9th title)
MOP	Dave Winfield (Minnesota)
← 1972  NCAA Division I Baseball Championship 1974 →

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 32 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament.^[1]

The twenty-seventh tournament's champion was Southern California, led by head coach Rod Dedeaux, and Dave Winfield of Minnesota. was the Most Outstanding Player. He was the starting pitcher in two games, tossing 17 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits, one earned run, and striking out 29. In addition, Winfield batted .467 in the Series.

USC became the first team to win four consecutive College World Series and was undefeated (5–0) in the double-elimination format. The final game drew 12,050, the sixth highest to date, and attendance for the fourteen-game Series was 65,356, a new record by nearly seven thousand.^[2]

Tournament

The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight district sites across the country, each consisting of between three and six teams.^[3] The winners of each District advanced to the College World Series.

Bold indicates winner.

District 1 at Boston, MA

	Upper round 1					Upper final					Final
	Northeastern		3
	Providence		2
						Northeastern		1
						Harvard		11
	Harvard		4
	UMass		2
											Harvard		8	—
											Providence		1	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Providence		5
	Providence		8			Northeastern		4
	UMass		7

District 2 at West Windsor, NJ

Upper round 1

Upper final

Final

Buffalo

1

Temple

0

Buffalo

1

Penn State

3

Penn State

5

Seton Hall

3

Penn State

4

—

Temple

2

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Temple

4*

Temple

4

Buffalo

3*

Seton Hall

2

District 3 at Starkville, MS

	First round					Second round					Third round					Semifinals					Final
						Miami (FL)		0
						Georgia Southern		1
	1	Miami (FL)	5								Miami (FL)		13
	6	South Alabama	3								Appalachian State		6			Miami (FL)		6
						Appalachian State		2
																Vanderbilt		5
						South Alabama		1
	2	NC State	5
																					Miami (FL)		1
	5	Appalachian State	1
						Vanderbilt		4*													Georgia Southern		4
						NC State		2*
	3	Vanderbilt	6								Georgia Southern		5
	4	Georgia Southern	2								Vanderbilt		2
						Appalachian State		4
						NC State		3

District 4 at Carbondale, IL

Upper round 1

Upper final

Final

Southern Illinois

5

Marshall

2

Southern Illinois

0

Minnesota

2

Minnesota

3

Miami (OH)

2

Minnesota

7*

—

Southern Illinois

6*

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Southern Illinois

8

Miami (OH)

5

Miami (OH)

1

Marshall

1

District 5 at Tulsa, OK

Upper round 1

Upper final

Final

Oklahoma

8

Creighton

1

Oklahoma

4

Tulsa

1

Tulsa

6

Oral Roberts

0

Oklahoma

5*

—

Tulsa

1*

—

Lower round 1

Lower final

Tulsa

2

Creighton

4

Oral Roberts

1

Oral Roberts

11

District 6 at San Antonio, TX

	Upper round 1					Upper final					Final
	Trinity		6
	Arkansas		0
						Trinity		2
						Texas		17
	Texas		7
	Texas–Pan American		1
											Texas		1410	—
											Texas–Pan American		12	—
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						Texas–Pan American		410
	Texas–Pan American		410			Trinity		3
	Arkansas		2

District 7 at Spokane, WA & Mesa, AZ

	Spokane, WA						Mesa, AZ
							Arizona State	14
	Denver	2	4	4			Denver	1
	Gonzaga	8	3	3

District 8 at Los Angeles, CA

	Semifinal						Final
							Cal State Los Angeles	3	6	—
	Loyola Marymount	8	1	—			Southern California	4	13	—
	Southern California	9	2	—

College World Series

Participants

School	Conference	Record (conference)	Head coach	CWS appearances	CWS best finish	CWS record
Arizona State	WAC	56–6 (16–1)	Jim Brock	5 (last: 1972)	1st (1965, 1967, 1969)	20–7
Georgia Southern	Independent	42–10	Ron Polk	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
Harvard	EIBL	35–3 (11–2)	Loyal Park	2 (last: 1971)	5th (1971)	1–4
Minnesota	Big 10	29–14–2 (14–4)	Dick Siebert	3 (last: 1964)	1st (1956, 1960, 1964)	14–3
Oklahoma	Big 8	47–10 (17–4)	Enos Semore	2 (last: 1972)	1st (1951)	5–2
Penn State	Independent	19–5	Chuck Medlar	4 (last: 1963)	2nd (1957)	8–8
Southern California	Pac-8	46–11 (14–4)	Rod Dedeaux	14 (last: 1972)	1st (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972)	48–18
Texas	Southwest	48–5 (15–3)	Cliff Gustafson	14 (last: 1972)	1st (1949, 1950)	28–25

Results

Bracket

	Upper round 1					Upper round 2					Upper final					Semifinals					Final
	Minnesota		1
	Oklahoma		0
						Minnesota		0
						Arizona State		3
	Arizona State		3
	Penn State		1
											Arizona State		1
											Southern California		3
	Texas		6
																Southern California		8
	Georgia Southern		3
						Texas		1								Minnesota		7
						Southern California		4
	Southern California		4
	Harvard		1
																					Southern California		4
						Lower round 1					Lower round 2										Arizona State		3
											Texas		10
						Oklahoma		6			Oklahoma		2
																Arizona State		6
						Penn State		0
																Texas		5
											Minnesota		6
						Georgia Southern		8			Georgia Southern		2
						Harvard		0

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
June 8	Game 1	Minnesota	1–0	Oklahoma	Dave Winfield: 14 Ks, 6-hit shutout.[4]
	Game 2	Arizona State	3–1	Penn State
June 9	Game 3	Texas	6–3	Georgia Southern
	Game 4	Southern California	4–1	Harvard
	Game 5	Oklahoma	6–0	Penn State	Penn State eliminated
June 10	Game 6	Georgia Southern	8–0	Harvard	Harvard eliminated
	Game 7	Arizona State	3–0	Minnesota
	Game 8	Southern California	4–1	Texas
June 11	Game 9	Minnesota	6–2	Georgia Southern	Georgia Southern eliminated
	Game 10	Texas	10–2	Oklahoma	Oklahoma eliminated
	Game 11	Southern California	3–1	Arizona State
June 12	Game 12	Arizona State	6–5	Texas	Texas eliminated[5]
	Game 13	Southern California	8–7	Minnesota	Minnesota eliminated[5]
June 13	Final	Southern California	4–3	Arizona State	Southern California wins CWS[2]

Final game was on Wednesday night, with an attendance of 12,050.^[2]

The Minnesota vs. USC semi final game

Recalled each year as perhaps the most amazing game in CWS history, Minnesota faced a USC team that featured future major leaguers Rich Dauer, Fred Lynn, and Roy Smalley. Dave Winfield was the starting pitcher for Minnesota. In his first game vs. Oklahoma, he struck out 14 in shutting out the Sooners, 1-0. In the semi-final vs. defending champion USC, Winfield had struck out 15 through 8 innings, allowing only an infield single as Minnesota built a 7-0 lead. USC's Rich Dauer said "In my whole career, even facing the big boys in the majors, I have never seen anything like that," When Dave let go of the ball, it was three feet in front of your face and it seemed like it was going 110 miles an hour."^[6]

In the ninth inning, USC opened with a base hit but the next batter grounded into what appeared to be a double play. Television replays indicated the batter was out at first base, but the umpire called him safe and Minnesota coach Dick Siebert was thrown out of the game arguing the call. Two more singles and a key error by the first baseman led to three runs and Winfield was relieved and went to left field. Two relievers allowed five more runs and USC won the game 8–7.^[5] "I have played in a lot of memorable big games during my career," Winfield said. "World Series games, league championship games, all-star games, all kinds. But I will never forget that game against USC. Never."^[7]

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position	Player	School
P	Eddie Bane	Arizona State
	Randy Scarbery	USC
	Bob Shirley	Oklahoma
	Dave Winfield (MOP)	Minnesota
C	Clint Meyers	Arizona State
1B	Clay Westlake	Arizona State
2B	Bill Berger	Arizona State
3B	Keith Moreland	Texas
SS	Roy Smalley	USC
OF	Ken Huizenga	USC
	Carl Person	Georgia Southern
	Terry Pyka	Texas

Notable players

• Arizona State: Gary Allenson, Eddie Bane, Jim Lentine, Paul Moskau, Jim Otten, John Poloni, Jim Umbarger, Bump Wills
• Georgia Southern: Jim Morrison, John Tamargo
• Minnesota: Steve Comer, Dave Winfield
• Oklahoma: Keith Drumright, Bob Shirley, Joe Simpson, Jackson Todd
• Southern California: Rich Dauer, Steve Kemp, Dennis Littlejohn, Fred Lynn, Ed Putman, Pete Redfern, Randy Scarbery, Roy Smalley
• Texas: Bobby Cuellar, Jim Gideon, Keith Moreland, Ken Pape, Rich Wortham

See also

• 1973 NCAA College Division baseball tournament
• 1973 NAIA World Series