2017 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2017. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2017 College World Series. The College World Series, consisted of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended June 27, 2017.

Realignment

Coastal Carolina left the Big South Conference for the Sun Belt Conference. The move officially took effect hours after Coastal won the College World Series. In doing so, the Sun Belt Conference split into East and West divisions for this season.
North Dakota, a member of the Western Athletic Conference in baseball (as well as swimming and diving for both sexes), dropped baseball.

The 2017 season was also the last for one school's baseball program, and the last for two other programs in their then-current conferences. In addition, the last remaining Division I independent left for its full-time home of Division II.

Buffalo dropped baseball at the end of the season.^[1]
NYIT, which had been left independent after the 2013 collapse of the Great West Conference, dropped its baseball program to Division II, joining the school's full-time home of the East Coast Conference.^[2]
Valparaiso left its home of the previous 10 seasons, the Horizon League, for the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).^[3]
Wichita State left the MVC, its conference home since 1945, to become a full but non-football member of the American Athletic Conference.^[4]

Season outlook

Conference standings

Conference winners and tournaments

Of the 31 Division I athletic conferences that sponsor baseball, 29 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. Two conferences, the Big West and Pac-12, do not hold a conference tournament. The winners of these tournaments, plus the Big West and Pac-12 regular-season champions, receive automatic invitations to the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

College World Series

The 2017 College World Series began on June 17 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

Dick Howser Trophy: Brendan McKay, 1B/P, Louisville^[43]
Baseball America: Brendan McKay, 1B/P, Louisville^[44]
Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger: Brendan McKay, 1B/P, Louisville & Brent Rooker, 1B, Mississippi State^[45]
American Baseball Coaches Association: Brendan McKay, 1B/P, Louisville^[46]
Golden Spikes Award: Brendan McKay, 1B/P, Louisville^[47]

Major freshman of the year awards

Baseball America Freshman Of The Year: Matt Wallner, OF/P, Southern Miss^[48]
Collegiate Baseball Freshman Players of the Year: Kevin Milam, DH/P, Saint Mary's; Sean Mooney, P, St. John's; Braden Shewmake, 2B, Texas A&M; Kenyon Yovan, P, Oregon^[49]

Major coach of the year awards

American Baseball Coaches Association: Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida^[50]
Baseball America: Dan McDonnell, Louisville^[51]
Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year: Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida^[52]
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Coach of the Year: Pat Casey, Oregon State^[53]
ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year:

Other major awards

Senior CLASS Award (baseball) (outstanding Senior of the Year in baseball): Anthony Critelli, Holy Cross^[54]
Johnny Bench Award (Catcher of the Year):
Brooks Wallace Award (Shortstop of the Year): Logan Warmoth, North Carolina^[55]
John Olerud Award (best two-way player): Brendan McKay, Louisville^[56]
American Baseball Coaches Association Gold Glove:

Coaching changes

This table lists programs that changed head coaches at any point from the first day of the 2017 season until the day before the first day of the 2018 season.

Attendances

2016 teams with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:^[58]

References

^ "UB Reduces its Intercollegiate Sports Teams from 20 to 16" (Press release). Buffalo Bulls. April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
^ "Baseball program to join East Coast Conference for 2017–2018 academic year" (Press release). NYIT Bears. May 5, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "It's Official. Welcome, Valparaiso" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. May 25, 2017. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
^ "Wichita State to Become Member of American Athletic Conference" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
^ "Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll - Pre-season". Collegiate Baseball. December 19, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
^ Teddy Cahill (January 23, 2017). "2017 Preseason College Top 25". Baseball America. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^ "Baseball Coaches Poll". USA Today. January 26, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^ "TCU Tops 2017 Preseason NCBWA Poll". NCBWA. January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
^ "America East Conference". D1Baseball.com. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
^ "Atlantic Sun Conference". D1Baseball.com. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
^ "2017 Baseball Standings". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
^ a b "Binghamton, Stony Brook, UMBC Highlight #AEBASE Major Awards; All-Conference Teams Announced" (Press release). America East Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
^ a b "Houston's Scheiner, Tulane's Williams Named American Players of the Year" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 22, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
^ a b "St. Bonaventure, VCU Win Atlantic 10 Baseball End-of-Year Awards" (Press release). Atlantic 10 Conference. May 24, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
^ a b "ACC Announces 2017 Baseball Season Honors" (Press release). Atlantic Coast Conference. May 22, 2017. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
^ a b "FGCU's Rivera, Stetson's Gilbert Take Home @ASUNBSB Postseason Honors" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
^ "2017 All-Big 12 Baseball Teams and Awards Announced" (Press release). Big 12 Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
^ a b "Baseball Regular-Season Major Awards and All-BIG EAST Teams Announced" (Press release). Big East Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Big South Announces 2017 Baseball Annual Awards" (Press release). Big South Conference. May 22, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Big Ten Announces Baseball All-Big Ten Honors and Individual Award Winners" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Big West Announces Baseball Honors" (Press release). Big West Conference. May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "UNCW's Golden Highlights All-CAA Baseball Team" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Base: 2017 C-USA Awards" (Press release). Conference USA. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Horizon League Announces Baseball All-Conference Teams" (Press release). Horizon League. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
^ a b "Baseball All-Ivy, Postseason Awards Announced" (Press release). Ivy League. May 18, 2017. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
^ a b "MAAC Announces 2017 Baseball Major Award Winners" (Press release). Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
^ a b "All-MAC Baseball Teams & Specialty Award Winners Announced" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
^ a b "MEAC Announces 2017 Baseball All-Conference Honors" (Press release). Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. May 16, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ a b "2017 All-MVC Baseball Teams Announced" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ a b "MW Announces 2017 All-Conference Baseball Team and Individual Awards" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. May 25, 2017. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ a b "Bryant Snags Three Major Baseball Awards on NEC Tournament Eve" (Press release). Northeast Conference. May 24, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^ a b "Eastern Kentucky's Fisher, Morehead State's Hulsizer, Jacksonville State's McGuire Highlight 2017 All-OVC Baseball Honors" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^ a b "Pac-12 announces baseball All-Conference honors" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^ a b "2017 Baseball All-Patriot League Teams and Major Awards Announced" (Press release). Patriot League. May 10, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
^ a b "2017 SEC Baseball Awards Announced" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
^ a b "Baseball All-Conference Teams Announced" (Press release). Southern Conference. May 22, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
^ a b "SLU's Schwaner Is Southland Baseball Player of Year" (Press release). Southland Conference. May 23, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
^ a b "SWAC Announces Baseball Postseason Honors" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. May 15, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
^ a b "ORU's Cummings, Ausua Named #SummitBSB Player & Pitcher of the Year" (Press release). The Summit League. May 23, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
^ a b "Sun Belt Conference Announces End of Season Baseball Honors" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. May 22, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
^ a b "WCC Announces 2017 Baseball All-Conference Teams" (Press release). West Coast Conference. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
^ a b "WAC Baseball Postseason Honors Announced" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
^ "Louisville's McKay Wins 2017 Dick Howser Trophy" (Press release). National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ Cahill, Teddy (June 8, 2017). "2017 College Player of the Year: Brendan McKay Excels on All Fronts". Baseball America. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
'^ "Collegiate Baseballs NCAA Div. I All-Americans" (PDF) (Press release). Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "2017 ABCA National Players of the Year announced" (Press release). American Baseball Coaches Association. June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
^ "Louisville's Brendan McKay Wins 2017 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award" (Press release). USA Baseball. June 29, 2017. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
^ Cahill, Teddy (June 26, 2017). "Freshman of the Year: Wallner Keeps Making Strong First Impressions". Baseball America. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
^ "Collegiate Baseball Freshmen AA Team". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "2017 ABCA/Diamond National Coaches of the Year announced" (Press release). American Baseball Coaches Association. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
^ "Baseball America Names McDonnell National Coach of the Year" (Press release). Atlantic Coast Conference. July 10, 2017. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
^ "Florida's O'Sullivan CB's National Coach Of Year". Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. June 29, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
^ "Oregon State's Casey Is 2017 NCBWA Coach of the Year" (Press release). National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "Holy Cross' Anthony Critelli wins the 2017 Senior CLASS Award® in Baseball" (Press release). Premier Sports Management. June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "North Carolina's Logan Warmoth wins 2017 Brooks Wallace Award" (Press release). College Baseball Hall of Fame. June 13, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
^ "Brendan McKay wins third straight John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award" (Press release). College Baseball Hall of Fame. June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ "Matt Reynolds Named Head Baseball Coach" (Press release). UMass Athletics. May 26, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
^ "AJC: UGA Sports News".