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Tennessee's Tony Vitello |
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Mississippi State's Gary Henderson |
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Coastal Carolina's Gary Gilmore |
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Indiana's Tracy Smith |
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Stony Brook's Matt Senk |
2021 Winner: Tony
Vitello, Tennessee Vitello led his Tennessee club to Omaha
for the first time since 2005, while reaching the 50-win mark for the first
time since 1995. The Volunteers earned a No. 3 national seed, hosted an
NCAA Regional for the first time since 2005 and swept their regional with
a 9-8 win over Wright State in the opener before capping the perfect weekend
with a pair of wins over Liberty, 9-3 and 3-1, to earn a spot in the Super
Regionals for the first time since 2005. Tennessee stayed hot with a Super
Regional sweep over No. 14 LSU, taking the opener 4-2 before erupting for
a 15-6 clinching win behind program NCAA Tournament single-game records
for runs and home runs (6) to earn its fifth trip to the College World Series.
2020 Season: No winner selected
2019 Winner: Erik
Bakich, Michigan Michigan went on the road and knocked off
No. 1 overall seed UCLA in the Super Regionals to advance to the College
World Series for the first time since 1984. The Wolverines were the only
team to win a series against the Bruins all year and returned to Omaha for
the eighth time in program history. Bakich led the Wolverines to a 46-20
record, the most wins by a Michigan team since 2008, and a 16-7 Big Ten
record.
2018 Winner: Gary
Henderson, Mississippi State The Bulldogs advanced to the
CWS under Henderson, who was named the interim head coach three games into
the season, despite starting the year 0-3 and SEC play 2-7. After rallying
to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, thanks in part to series sweeps of fellow
CWS teams Arkansas and Florida, MSU won five elimination games in the NCAA
postseason to advance to Omaha. Three of the Bulldogs NCAA Tournament wins
either came in walk-off fashion or in extra innings.
2017 Winner: Pat Casey,
Oregon State The Beavers advanced to the CWS under Casey
with an Oregon State single-season record 54 wins (54-4 overall), and set
a Pac-12 Conference record for wins, while finishing league play with a
27-3 mark. Casey’s Beavers own the two longest winning streaks in college
baseball in 2017 with a 23-game streak and an active 21-game streak. On
May 12, Casey became just the 16th active coach to reach 1,000 wins with
a four-year program.
2016 Winner: Gary
Gilmore, Coastal Carolina Gilmore's squad punched its first
ticket to the CWS with a thrilling 4-3 walk-off victory over LSU in game
two of the Baton Rouge Super Regional last weekend. The victory was the
49th of the season for the Chanticleers, who have made 15 NCAA Regional
appearances and three NCAA Super Regional appearances under Gilmore's watch
in Conway, S.C. CCU opened the season ranked No. 24 in the NCBWA preseason
poll and after dropping out for several weeks, returned to the rankings
on April 18 and have won 38 of its last 46 games. The Chants have won 841
games during Gilmore's tenure and arrive in Omaha winners of 15 of their
last 16 games, including a 5-1 mark in NCAA Tournament play.
2015 Winner: Paul
Mainieri, LSU Mainieri has directed LSU to a 53-10 record
this season and a berth in the College World Series. The Tigers also captured
the SEC regular-season championship and have been ranked No. 1 in the nation
for 10 consecutive weeks. Mainieri was named the SEC Coach of the Year for
the second time in his career after leading LSU to its league-best 16th
SEC regular-season championship. It was the third title during his nine-season
tenure. LSU also won the SEC Western Division title for the 18th time in
school history and for the fifth time under Mainieri.
2014 Winner: Mike
Gillespie, UC Irvine Gillespie saw his Anteaters overcome
a regular-season tailspin to land in the College World Series for the just
the second time in program history. After dropping eight of its last nine
and being unranked in the NCBWA Top 30 entering the NCAA Tournament, UCI
won the Corvallis Regional, knocking off No. 1 overall seed Oregon State.
UCI then took two straight at the Stillwater Super Regional to advance to
Omaha for the first time since 2007.
2013 Winner: Tracy
Smith, Indiana The Hoosiers' eighth-year head coach guided
his squad to an historic season in 2013 as Indiana enters the College World
having reeled off a program-record 48 wins, including a 17-7 mark in Big
Ten play, which gave the Hoosiers their first outright conference title
since 1949. Smith, who was named the unanimous Big Ten Coach of the Year
prior to the conference tournament, saw nine of his Hoosiers named to the
All-Big Ten team, including Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers. After the
record-breaking regular season, Smith and his IU squad then secured its
second NCAA regional berth (2009) during his tenure by winning the Big Ten
tournament title at Target Field in Minneapolis.
2012 Winner: Matt
Senk, Stony Brook Matt Senk has guided the Seawolves to
the most victories in school history (after 42 in 2011) for the second year
in a row with a 52-13 mark to lead Division I in 2012 triumphs prior to
the CWS. SBU is the second No. 4 regional seed to advance to the World Series
under its current format, joining Fresno State's 2008 national championship
team. The Seawolves also are the first school from the Northeast to reach
Omaha since Maine in 1986. Stony Brook has become the first team from the
state of New York to advance to the College World Series since St. John's
in 1980.
2011 Winner: David Esquer,
Cal The Golden Bears program has avoided the chopping block through
fund-raising efforts on the way to their sixth appearance in the CWS. Esquer
led Cal out of the loser's bracket in the Houston Regional and beat
Dallas Baptist in the Super Regional to advance to Omaha. Cal's 37 wins
this season is the most victories since the 1991 squad went 37-27 and advanced
to the final of the 1991 NCAA Wichita State Regional.
2010 Winner: Jim Schlossnagle,
TCU Schlossnagle led the Horned Frogs (51-12) to their fourth
straight 40-win campaign and fifth consecutive Mountain West regular-season
title in 2010 on the journey to Omaha. TCU won the MWC Tournament title,
taking just three games to earn the league's automatic bid for the fourth
time in just five seasons in the league. TCU hosted the NCAA Fort Worth
Regional for the second year in a row, beating Lamar, Arizona and Baylor
to advance to the Austin Super Regional, also for the second consecutive
year. But in 2010, the result reversed in the Horned Frogs favor as they
took the series from Texas and punched their ticket for Omaha's Johnny
Rosenblatt Stadium.
2009 Winner: Brian O'Connor,
Virginia After an impressive regular season, the Cavaliers (47-13-1)
rattled off wins against Clemson, North Carolina, Duke and Florida State
to win the ACC Tournament championship as the No. 6 seed. O'Connor then
led the Cavaliers across the country to compete as the No. 2 seed at the
NCAA Irvine Regional. There, they defeated San Diego State and host and
No. 6 national seed UC Irvine twice to advance to the first NCAA Super Regional
in school history. Following a 4-3 loss in 12 innings during the first game
of the NCAA Oxford Super Regional against Mississippi, the Cavaliers scored
two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 win in Game Two
and broke open a close game with three runs in the fifth inning on the way
to a 5-1 victory in the championship game. Entering the 2009 NCAA College
World series, O'Connor has posted a 264-102-1 career record. In six
seasons as the Cavaliers' skipper, he has led Virginia to NCAA Regional
berths each year with five 40-win seasons during that time.
2008 Winner: Mike Batesole,
Fresno State Batesole led the Bulldogs (42-29) to their first
College World Series appearance since 1991 and guided Fresno State to Omaha
as the first No. 4 seed to advance to the CWS since the 64-team format was
introduced in 1999. He earned Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year
honors for the first time after Fresno State won its third consecutive regular-season
WAC title. The Bulldogs followed that up with a third WAC Tournament championship
in a row and won the Long Beach Regional with a victory over Long Beach
State and two wins over top-10 ranked San Diego. After losing the opening
game of the Tempe Super Regional, Fresno State posted back-to-back wins
over then-No. 4 Arizona State to earn the trip to the CWS. Batesole is finishing
his sixth season at the helm of the Bulldogs. He has a record of 214-163
at FSU and ranks third on the school's all-time victory list. Batesole
also served eight seasons as head coach at Cal State Northridge and owns
a career record of 470-321-1 over 13 campaigns.
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