| Year: | 1981 |
| Division: | Division I |
| Teams: | 34 |
| Collegeworldseriesballpark: | Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium |
| City: | Omaha, NE |
| Champions: | Arizona State |
| Titlecount: | 5th |
| Runner-Up: | Oklahoma State |
| Cwscount: | 9th |
| Coach: | Jim Brock |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mop: | Stan Holmes |
| Mopteam: | Arizona State |
| Tournament Link: | NCAA Division I Baseball Championship |
The 1981 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1981 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 thirty fifth 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.[1] The thirty-fifth tournament's champion was Arizona State coached by Jim Brock. The Most Outstanding Player was Stan Holmes of Arizona State.
The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight regional sites across the country, seven consisting of four teams and one of six teams.[2] The winners of each Regional advanced to the College World Series.
Bold indicates winner.
| School | Conference | Record (conference) | Head coach | CWS appearances | CWS best finish | CWS record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50–12 (26–4) | 10 (last: 1978) | 1st (1965, 1967, 1969, 1977) | 37–16 | ||||
| 32–12 (n/a) | 2 (last: 1976) | 3rd (1964) | 5–4 | ||||
| n/a | 60–8 (n/a) | 4 (last: 1980) | 2nd (1974) | 7–8 | |||
| 41–18 (10–4) | 4 (last: 1980) | 1st (1953) | 10–5 | ||||
| 45–15 (17–6) | 2 (last: 1979) | 6th (1979) | 1–4 | ||||
| 49–15 (12–6) | 8 (last: 1968) | 1st (1959) | 19–15 | ||||
| n/a | 44–13 (n/a) | 2 (last: 1977) | 2nd (1975, 1977) | 7–4 | |||
| 58–9–1 (16–5) | 18 (last: 1979) | 1st (1949, 1950, 1975) | 38–32 |
| Date | Game | Winner | Score | Loser | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30 | Game 1 | 4–0 | ||||
| Game 2 | 11–2 | |||||
| May 31 | Game 3 | 8–5 (10 innings) | ||||
| Game 4 | 6–1 | |||||
| June 1 | Game 5 | 4–3 | ||||
| June 2 | Game 6 | 12–6 | ||||
| Game 7 | 6–5 | Michigan eliminated | ||||
| June 3 | Game 8 | 12–7 | Maine eliminated | |||
| June 4 | Game 9 | 11–10 (13 innings) | Oklahoma St. qualified for final | |||
| Game 10 | 5–4 | Miami (FL) eliminated | ||||
| June 5 | Game 11 | 6–5 | Mississippi State eliminated | |||
| June 6 | Game 12 | 15–8 (13 innings) | ||||
| Game 13 | 10–7 | South Carolina eliminated | ||||
| June 7 | Game 14 | 12–3 | Texas eliminated | |||
| June 8 | Final | 7–4 | Arizona State wins CWS |
The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.
| Position | Player | School | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | style= | Arizona State | ||
| style= | Mississippi State | |||
| C | style= | Texas | ||
| 1B | style= | Arizona State | ||
| 2B | style= | Arizona State | ||
| 3B | style= | Arizona State | ||
| SS | style= | |||
| OF | style= | Mississippi State | ||
| Stan Holmes (MOP) | style= | Arizona State | ||
| style= | Oklahoma State | |||
| DH | style= | Arizona State |