The 1976 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1976 NCAA Division I 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 thirtieth year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Seven regions held a four team, double-elimination tournament while one region included six teams, resulting in 34 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The thirtieth tournament's champion was Arizona, coached by Jerry Kindall. The Most Outstanding Player was Steve Powers of Arizona.

Regionals Seven of the eight regionals were played as 4-team double-elimination tournaments. One regional was played as a 6-team double-elimination tournament. The winner of each regional moved onto the College World Series.

Atlantic Regional Games played in Columbia, South Carolina.

Rocky Mountain Regional Games played in Tempe, Arizona.

Mideast Regional Games played in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

South Regional Games played in Tallahassee, Florida.

Midwest Regional Games played in Edinburg, Texas.

South Central Regional Games played in Arlington, Texas.

West Regional Games played in Pullman, Washington.

Northeast Regional Games played in Middletown, Connecticut.

College World Series

Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach CWS appearances CWS best finish CWS record Arizona WAC 51–16 (12–6) Jerry Kindall 9(last: 1970) 2nd(1956, 1958, 1960) 17–18 Arizona State WAC 62–8 (17–1) Jim Brock 7(last: 1975) 1st(1965, 1967, 1969) 26–11 Auburn SEC 37–13 (12–7) Paul Nix 1(last: 1967) 4th(1967) 2–2 Clemson ACC 35–13 (10–2) Bill Wilhelm 2(last: 1959) 5th(1958, 1959) 2–4 Eastern Michigan MAC 43–14 (12–3) Ron Oestrike 1(last: 1975) 6th(1975) 1–2 Maine Eastern Collegiate(Yankee) 27–7 (6–2) John Winkin 1(last: 1964) 3rd(1964) 3–2 Oklahoma Big 8 62–17 (4–1) Enos Semore 5(last: 1975) 1st(1951) 9–8 Washington State Pac-8 42–13 (16–2) Chuck Brayton 3(last: 1965) 2nd(1950) 5–6

Results

Bracket

Game results

Date Game Winner Score Loser Notes June 11 Game 1 Clemson 9–4 Auburn Game 2 Eastern Michigan 3–2 Maine June 12 Game 3 Arizona State 7–6 (10 innings) Arizona Game 4 Washington State 6–1 Oklahoma Game 5 Maine 9–8 Auburn Auburn eliminated June 13 Game 6 Arizona 10–2 Oklahoma Oklahoma eliminated Game 7 Eastern Michigan 3–2 (10 innings) Clemson Game 8 Arizona State 9–3 Washington State June 14 Game 9 Arizona 10–6 Clemson Clemson eliminated Game 10 Maine 6–3 Washington State Washington State eliminated June 15 Game 11 Eastern Michigan 2–1 Arizona State June 16 Game 12 Arizona State 7–0 Maine Maine eliminated Game 13 Arizona 11–6 Eastern Michigan June 18 Game 14 Arizona 5–1 Arizona State Arizona State eliminated June 19 Final Arizona 7–1 Eastern Michigan Arizona wins CWS

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

Position Player School P Bob Chaulk Arizona Bob Owchinko C Ron Hassey Arizona 1B Ken Phelps Arizona State 2B Dan Schmitz 3B Brian Petroff SS Russ Quetti Maine OF Ken Landreaux Arizona State Dave Stegman Arizona Pete Van Horne Arizona DH Steve Powers (MOP) Arizona

Notable players Arizona: Ron Hassey, Dave Stegman Arizona State: Gary Allenson, Chris Bando, Floyd Bannister, Mike Colbern, Bob Horner, Dave Hudgens, Darrell Jackson, Ken Landreaux, Chris Nyman, Bob Pate, Rick Peters, Ken Phelps, Gary Rajsich Auburn: Joe Beckwith, Terry Leach Clemson: Ron Musselman, Chuck Porter, Kurt Seibert Eastern Michigan: Glenn Gulliver, John Martin, Bob Owchinko, Bob Welch Maine: Jack Leggett, Bert Roberge Oklahoma: Terry Bogener, Keith Drumright, George Frazier, Gene Krug, Roger LaFrancois Washington State: Dave Edler, Eric Wilkins, Tom Niedenfuer

Tournament Notes The Arizona State team featured 13 future Major League players – a record matched by the school's team from the previous year. Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall became the first person to win a College World Series as both a player (1956, Minnesota) and a coach. Keith Drumright appeared in his fourth College World Series. Eastern Michigan was the last northern school to play in the final game of the College World Series for 43 years, until Michigan in 2019.

See also 1976 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 1976 NCAA Division III baseball tournament (inaugural edition) 1976 NAIA World Series

References