The 2006 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from June 2 through June 26, . Sixty-four NCAA Division I college baseball teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament, to play in the NCAA tournament. The tournament culminated with 8 teams in the College World Series at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.
After winning the regional and super regional rounds of the 2006 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, eight teams advanced to Omaha. Clemson, , North Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State, , , and Miami (FL) all won their super-regionals and made the trip to the 2006 College World Series. Five national seeds advanced to Omaha: Clemson (1), Rice (2), Cal State Fullerton (5), Georgia (7), and Georgia Tech (8). Third-seeded and sixth-seeded both fell in the regionals, while the fourth seed lost in super regional play.
The first pitch of the 2006 CWS was Friday, June 16, at 1:00 PM CDT (18:00 UTC). The 2006 tournament was only the second time in CWS history in which 16 games were played (the other being the 2003 College World Series).
After losing their tournament opener to Miami (FL), the Oregon State Beavers staved off elimination for four straight games to win their bracket and advance to the championship series. The , who had not lost a three-game series all season, were shut out in consecutive games by the Beavers and failed to score in a CWS-record 23 innings. Oregon State advanced to face North Carolina in the final.
The best-of-three championship series featured Oregon State and North Carolina. Oregon State won the deciding game, 3–2, winning the school's first national title in baseball and its second NCAA championship overall. All games were televised on ESPN and ESPN2.
Oregon State set a CWS record by winning six elimination games (four in bracket play, two in the championship series) and also became the first team ever to lose twice in Omaha and still win the title. Oregon State is the only team besides Holy Cross in 1952 to win six games in the College World Series. Oregon State played in half (eight of 16) of the games in the tournament.
OSU pitcher Jonah Nickerson was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Five-time national champion LSU was left out of the field of 64, the first time since 1988 that the Tigers failed to qualify for a regional. LSU's overall record of 35–24 merited at-large consideration, but it was undone by poor performance in the Southeastern Conference, where the Tigers finished eighth out of 12 teams at 13–17 (followed by a 1-2 showing in the SEC Tournament). LSU won national championships in 1991, '93, '96, '97 and 2000 under Hall of Fame coach Skip Bertman, who was the school's athletic director at this time. Ten days after LSU's season ended, Bertman fired his successor, Smoke Laval, and hired Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri. Prior to this season, LSU hosted a regional every year since 1990.
Bids
Automatic bids Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees. ConferenceSchoolBerth type America East Tournament champion ACC Clemson Tournament champion Atlantic Sun Tournament champion A-10 Tournament champion Big 12 Tournament champion Big East Tournament champion Big South Tournament champion Big Ten Tournament champion Big West Cal State Fullerton Regular-season champion CAA Tournament champion Conference USA Tournament champion Horizon League Tournament champion Ivy League Championship series winner MAAC Tournament champion MAC Tournament champion Mid-Con Tournament champion MEAC Tournament champion Missouri Valley Tournament champion MWC Tournament champion NEC Tournament champion OVC Tournament champion Pac-10 Oregon State Regular-season champion Patriot League Tournament champion SEC Tournament champion SoCon Tournament champion Southland Tournament champion SWAC Tournament champion Sun Belt Tournament champion WCC Championship series winner WAC Tournament champion
Bids by conference Conference Total Schools Southeastern 8 , , , , , , , Atlantic Coast 7 Clemson, , , Miami (FL), North Carolina, , Big 12 7 , , Missouri, , , , Conference USA 4 , , , Pacific-10 4 , Oregon State, , WCC 3 , . Atlantic Sun 2 , Big South 2 , Big West 2 , Cal State Fullerton Missouri Valley 2 , Southern 2 , Sun Belt 2 , Western Athletic 2 , America East 1 Atlantic 10 1 Big East 1 Big Ten 1 Colonial 1 Horizon 1 Ivy 1 Metro Atlantic 1 Mid-American 1 Mid-Con 1 Mid-Eastern 1 Mountain West 1 Northeast 1 Ohio Valley 1 Patriot 1 Southland 1 Southwestern 1
National seeds Bold indicates CWS participant. Clemson
Cal State Fullerton
Regionals and super regionals
Bold indicates winner.
Clemson Super Regional
Houston Super Regional
Corvallis Super Regional
Tuscaloosa Super Regional
Fullerton Super Regional
Oxford Super Regional
Athens Super Regional
Atlanta Super Regional
College World Series
Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach CWS appearances Best CWS finish CWS recordNot including this year Clemson ACC 52–14 (24–6) Jack Leggett 10(last: 2002) 3rd(1996, 2002) 9–20 Cal State Fullerton Big West 48–13 (18–3) George Horton 13(last: 2004) 1st(1979, 1984, 1995, 2004) 32–21 SEC 47–21 (18–12) David Perno 4(last: 2004) 1st(1990) 6–7 ACC 50–16 (19–11) Danny Hall 2(last: 2002) 2nd(1994) 4–3 Miami (FL) ACC 41–22 (17–13) Jim Morris 21(last: 2004) 1st(1982, 1985, 1999, 2001) 45–34 North Carolina ACC 50–13 (22–8) Mike Fox 4(last: 1989) 3rd(1978) 2–8 Oregon State Pac-10 44–14 (16–7) Pat Casey 2(last: 2005) 7th(1952, 2005) 0–4 C-USA 55–11 (22–2) Wayne Graham 4(last: 2003) 1st(2003) 6–7
Bracket
Championship series
Saturday 6/24
Championship Game #1: 6:00 PM
Note: 77 minute rain delay in top of 6th inning
Sunday 6/25
Championship Game #2: 6:00 PM
Monday 6/26
Championship Game #3: 6:00 PM
All-Tournament Team The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.
Position Player School P Kevin Gunderson Oregon State Jonah Nickerson (MOP) Oregon State C Tim Federowicz 1B Bill Rowe Oregon State 2B Justin Turner Cal State Fullerton 3B Shea McFeely Oregon State SS Josh Horton OF Jay Cox Danny Dunn Cal State Fullerton Cole Gillespie Oregon State DH David Cooper Cal State Fullerton
Tournament performance by conference Conference Tournament record Percentage Schools to super regionals Schools to CWS Pacific-10 14-6 0.700 Oregon St, Stanford Oregon St ACC 29-13 0.690 Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina Big West 7-4 0.636 Cal State Fullerton Cal State Fullerton Mid-Con 3-2 0.600 Oral Roberts SEC 21-16 0.568 Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina Georgia Missouri Valley 5-4 0.556 Conference USA 10-9 0.526 Rice Rice Southern 4-4 0.500 College of Charleston Western Athletic 4-4 0.500 Metro Atlantic 2-2 0.500 Big 12 15-16 0.484 Missouri, Oklahoma Sun Belt 3-4 0.429 WCC 4-6 0.400 Big South 2-4 0.333 Big Ten 1-2 0.333 Colonial 1-2 0.333 Mid-American 1–2 0.333 Mountain West 1-2 0.333 Atlantic Sun 1-4 0.200 America East 0-2 0.000 Atlantic 10 0-2 0.000 Big East 0-2 0.000 Horizon 0-2 0.000 Ivy 0-2 0.000 Mid-Eastern 0-2 0.000 Northeast 0-2 0.000 Ohio Valley 0-2 0.000 Patriot 0-2 0.000 Southland 0-2 0.000 Southwestern Athletic 0-2 0.000
Notes on tournament field Lehigh, UNC Asheville, San Francisco, Prairie View, and Sacred Heart were making their first NCAA tournament appearance.
See also 2006 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 2006 NCAA Division III baseball tournament 2006 NAIA World Series
References