2014 NCAA Division I baseball season


The 2014 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I level, began on February 14, 2014. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and 2014 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended on June 25, 2014 with the final game of the best-of-three championship series between Vanderbilt and Virginia, won by Vanderbilt.

Realignment

There were many significant conference changes that took effect prior to the season.
This was also the final season for several teams in their then-current leagues:
The Philadelphia Phillies selected college juniors Ben Wetzler of Oregon State University in the fifth round and Jason Monda of the University of Washington in the sixth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. Both entered into negotiations with the Phillies with the help of a financial adviser, which is against National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, but is "something that reportedly happens all the time". Both also chose to return to college for their senior year. The Phillies reported Wetzler and Monda to the NCAA, which cleared Monda and suspended Wetzler for the first 11 games, which is 20%, of the college season.

Season outlook

Conference standings

Conference winners and tournaments

Twenty-nine athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament or a double-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

College World Series

The 2014 season marked the sixty eighth NCAA Baseball Tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Commodores claiming their first championship with a two games to one series win over Virginia in the final.

Bracket

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2014 season until the day before the first day of the 2015 season.
TeamFormer
coach		Interim
coach		New
coach		Reason
Arizona StateEsmay resigned on June 9, 2014.
BrownGrant AchillesDrabinski resigned on April 11, 2014. The Bears were 6–15, 0–8 in the Ivy League and coming off a loss to Connecticut.
CampbellGoff resigned to take the coaching position at Louisiana Tech.
Illinois StateKingston resigned on June 4 to take the coaching position at South Florida
IndianaChris LemonisSmith resigned on June 9 to take the coaching position at Arizona State.
Louisiana TechSimoneaux was fired on May 19 at the end of a 15-35 season, finishing last in C-USA.
Mississippi Valley StateShanks retired November 12.
New Mexico StateWard was fired on May 27 at the end of a 23 - 31 season, finishing 7th in the WAC.
Northern IllinoisMathey resigned on November 20 to take over at Division III North Central College.
Rhode IslandFoster resigned to take an assistant coaching job with Boston College on July 17, 2014. Cerrato was originally announced as interim head coach on July 17, 2014, interim tag lifted on June 23, 2015.
RutgersHill announced on February 20, 2014 that he would retire.
Sam Houston StatePierce resigned to take the coaching position at Tulane.
San Diego StateGwynn died of cancer on June 16. The San Diego Padres Hall of Famer and San Diego State alumnus had gone on medical leave in March 2014 for treatment.
South FloridaPrado accepted a non-coaching position in the South Florida Athletic Department on May 19, 2014.
TulaneDavid PierceJones retired on May 24 after 21 years of coaching the Green Wave.
VMIIkenberry resigned November 3 to pursue a private sector opportunity. Hadra was initially named interim head coach, and announced as permanent head coach on November 13.