1987 NCAA Division I baseball tournament


The 1987 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1987 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 forty first year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Each region was composed of six teams, resulting in 48 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The forty-first tournament's champion was [1987 1987 Stanford Cardinal baseball team|Stanford Cardinal baseball team|Stanford], coached by Mark Marquess. The Most Outstanding Player was Paul Carey of Stanford.

National seeds

For the first time, the NCAA selected eight national seeds and placed each in a different regional.
Bold indicates CWS participant.

Regionals

The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight regional sites across the country, each consisting of six teams. The winners of each Regional advanced to the College World Series.
Bold indicates winner.

College World Series

This was the last CWS to use a double-elimination format through the championship game. Under the format used from 1950 through 1987, the bracket was often adjusted after the field was pared to four teams in order to avoid rematches from earlier rounds. Starting in 1988 and continuing through 2002, the eight teams were divided into two four-team brackets, with the bracket winners meeting in a single championship game. In 2003, the single championship game was changed to a best-of-three series.
This CWS was best known for Stanford's dramatic 6-5 win over LSU in an elimination game. In that game, Stanford trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning with 2 outs and nobody on base. Eventually, Freshman outfielder Paul Carey hit a walk off grand slam home run off LSU freshman Ben McDonald to win the game.

Results

Bracket


Game results

DateGameWinnerScoreLoserNotes
May 29Game 1Oklahoma State8–3[1987 1987 Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team|Arizona State Sun Devils baseball team|Arizona State]
May 29Game 2LSU6–2 Florida State
May 30Game 3[1987 Texas Longhorns baseball|Texas Longhorns baseball team|Texas]13–6Arkansas
May 30Game 4Stanford3–2
May 31Game 5Florida State3–0Arizona StateArizona State eliminated
May 31Game 6Arkansas5–4Georgia eliminated
June 1/2Game 7Oklahoma State8–7LSU
June 2Game 8Stanford6–1Texas
June 3Game 9LSU5–2ArkansasArkansas eliminated
June 3Game 10Texas6–4 Florida StateFlorida State eliminated
June 4Game 11Oklahoma State6–2StanfordOklahoma State qualified for final
June 5Game 12Stanford6–5 LSULSU eliminated
June 5Game 13Texas6–5Oklahoma State
June 6Game 14Stanford9–3TexasTexas eliminated
June 7FinalStanford9–5Oklahoma StateStanford wins CWS

  • The Oklahoma State-LSU game was suspended overnight due to severe thunderstorms.

All-Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.
PositionPlayerSchool
PPat HopeOklahoma State
PGregg PattersonLSU
CAdam SmithOklahoma State
1BJimmy BarraganOklahoma State
2BBrad BeanblossomOklahoma State
3BScott CoolbaughTexas
SSDavid EsquerStanford
OFPaul Carey Stanford
OFBrian CisarikTexas
OFJack VoigtLSU
DHMark MachtolfStanford

Notable players

Arizona State: Mike Benjamin, Blas Minor, Mike Schwabe, Tim SpehrArkansas: Jimmy Kremers, Mike Oquist, Tim SherrillFlorida State: Rafael Bournigal, Matt Dunbar, Richie Lewis, Jerry Nielsen, Deion SandersGeorgia: Cris Carpenter, Steve Carter, Derek LilliquistLSU: Albert Belle, Mark Guthrie, Barry Manuel, Ben McDonald, Russ Springer, Jack VoigtOklahoma State: Monty Fariss, Tim Pugh, Robin VenturaStanford: Ruben Amaro, Paul Carey, Steve Chitren, Toi Cook, David Esquer, Brian Johnson, Brian Keyser, Mark Machtolf, Jack McDowell, Al Osuna, Ed Sprague, Ron WitmeyerTexas: Scott Coolbaugh, Todd Haney, Mark Petkovsek