The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 297 teams.[1] Thirty teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conferences, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
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.[2]
Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
ACC
7
Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
Pac-12
5
Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA
Big 12
4
Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
Conference USA
4
UAB, East Carolina, Rice, UCF
Missouri Valley
3
Creighton, Indiana State, Missouri State
Southern
3
Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Samford
Big East
2
Louisville, St. John's
Big Ten
2
Michigan State, Purdue
Mountain West
2
New Mexico, TCU
Southland
2
Sam Houston State, Texas-Arlington
West Coast
2
Pepperdine, San Diego
WAC
2
Fresno State, New Mexico State
America East
1
Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun
1
Belmont
Atlantic 10
1
Dayton
Big South
1
Coastal Carolina
Big West
1
Cal St. Fullerton
Colonial
1
UNC Wilmington
Horizon
1
Valparaiso
Independent
1
Dallas Baptist
Ivy
1
Cornell
MAAC
1
Manhattan
Mid-American
1
Kent State
MEAC
1
Bethune-Cookman
NEC
1
Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley
1
Austin Peay State
Patriot
1
Army
SWAC
1
Prairie View
Summit
1
Oral Roberts
Sun Belt
1
Louisiana-Monroe
National seeds
These eight teams would automatically host a Super Regional had they advanced to that round. Only North Carolina failed to advance out of its regional.
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.
Tournament notes
Round 1
Florida's Jonathon Crawford threw a no-hitter against Bethune-Cookman, the seventh no-hitter in NCAA tournament history and the first since 1991.[4]
Kent State defeated Kentucky in 21 innings, the second longest game in NCAA tournament history.[5]
Baylor lost to Oral Roberts, the first national seed to lose their round one game since Florida State and Georgia both did so in 2008. Both Georgia and Florida State went on to make the College World Series, with Georgia losing in the championship series.[6]
Round 2
Miami (FL) became the first #1 seed to go 0–2 in Regional play since San Diego in 2007.[7]
Regional Finals
Arizona became the first team ever to score at least 15 runs in every Regional game. They were the first team since Arkansas in 2009 to score 10 or more runs in every Regional game.[6]
Kent State, Oregon, St. John's, and Stony Brook all appeared in the Super Regionals for the first time.[8][9][10][11]
LSU lost a Super Regional in Baton Rouge for the first time (had won previous five).[6]
Florida State scored 35 runs in two games against Stanford, tied with LSU (2008) for the most runs in a Super Regional and the most in a 2-game Super Regional (previous record was 26).[6]
College World Series
Stony Brook supporters at the College World Series
Stony Brook was the first College World Series participant from the America East Conference and is the first from New York since St. John's in 1980.[12]
Kent State was the first MAC team to make the world series since 1976.[6]
No school from Texas made the College World Series for the first time since 2001.[6]
This is the 20th consecutive year that the SEC has fielded at least one team in the College World Series.[13]
This is the 5th consecutive year that the SEC has fielded at least one team in the Championship Series.
South Carolina becomes the first team since the '96, '97, '98 LSU Tigers to return to Omaha with a chance to defend their back-to-back Championships. Southern California is the only program in CWS history to win three consecutive CWS titles, or more, (1970–1974),(5).
South Carolina entered the World Series riding two significant postseason winning streaks.
Longest College World Series winning streak (10 CWS games) in NCAA history.[14]
Longest post-season winning streak (20 games) in NCAA history. (This streak includes, Regional, Super Regional and College World Series games, and also consists of six one run wins and four games that required extra innings.)[15]
Florida is making a third consecutive appearance in the College World Series for the first time in team history. Fellow 2012 CWS participants Florida State ('94,'95,'96 & '98,99,'00), Arizona ('58,'59,'60), Oregon State (05,06,07) and South Carolina ('02,'03,'04 & '10,'11,'12) have all made three consecutive appearances.
The Game 4 match-up between No. 1 seed Florida and No. 8 seed South Carolina marks the first opening-round rematch of the previous season's Championship Game since the 1960 series when Arizona faced, and defeated, the 1959 Champions from Oklahoma State.[15]
Stony Brook is the second team since 1999 to be seeded fourth in a regional and advance to the College World Series (Fresno State won 2008 CWS).[16]
Arizona pitcher Konner Wade became the first pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout without a walk in a College World Series game since 1972.
For the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999, neither team that started 2–0 in the CWS was a national seed. (Arizona and Arkansas)[18]
As a result of the 20 June 2012 Game 10 rain delay, South Carolina will become the first team, since Georgia did so in 1987, to play all or part of two games on the same calendar day at the CWS when they face Arkansas in the night game (Game 12) on the 21st. The last team to play two full games, in the College World Series, on the same day was Michigan on 2 June 1980.[19]
With the 2–0 win over Arkansas in game 12, South Carolina becomes the first team since 1952 (Holy Cross)(60 years) to win two games in the College World Series on the same day.
CWS records tied or broken
With the Game Four win over No. 1 seed Florida, the No. 8 seed South Carolina Gamecocks extend their NCAA record-setting postseason win streak to 21 consecutive games and their College World Series record-setting consecutive win streak to 11.[20][21] (Both streaks came to an end in game Eight.)
With the 4–1 win over Kent State in game 10, South Carolina's Michael Roth becomes the College World Series' all-time leader in Most Innings Pitched, with 53 2/3rd over three years. Roth also tied the record for Most CWS Starts with his 7th, and he tied the record for most CWS Wins all-time with a 4–0 CWS record. Additionally, Roth ties the record with Most Years With Wins (3).[22][23]
Arizona becomes the first CWS team to hit two home runs in an inning at TD Ameritrade Park after Rob Refsnyder and Bobby Brown hit home runs in the fourth inning of Game 11 against Florida State. In the same game, Florida State uses eight different pitchers, tying a CWS record.[24]
With the 3–2 win over Arkansas in game 13, South Carolina's Matt Price sets a new College World Series Most Wins record with 5.[25][26]
Arizona becomes only the second team after South Carolina the previous year to go a perfect 10–0 in the postseason.
Media coverage
Radio
NRG Media, in conjunction with the Dial Global Sports/NCAA Radio Network provided nationwide radio coverage of the College World Series. Kevin Kugler and John Bishop called all games leading up to the Championship Series. It would be the first time John Bishop would call College World Series games for Dial Global Sports. The championship series would be called by Kugler and Scott Graham.[27]
Selection shows
The NCAA Division I Road to Omaha Selection Show aired on ESPN on May 28, 2012.
Competition
Regionals:
The Columbia and Tucson Regionals were broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN3.
The College Station, Gainesville, Palo Alto and Tallahassee Regionals were broadcast on ESPN3.
