The 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, May 29, 2015, as part of the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2015 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which began on June 13 and ended on June 24 with the Virginia Cavaliers upsetting the defending champion Vanderbilt Commodores 4–2 in the decisive Game 3 and thereby avenging their CWS Finals loss to Vanderbilt the previous year.[1][2]
The 64 participating NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 298 teams.[3] Thirty-one teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conferences, and 33 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
Teams were divided into 16 regionals of four teams, which conducted a double-elimination tournament. Regional champions then faced each other in Super Regionals, a best-of-three series to determine the eight participants of the College World Series.[2]
Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia split the first two games of the best-of-three championship series before Virginia won Game 3, 4–2, to win their first national championship in baseball. The two teams previously met in the championship series in 2014, which Vanderbilt won.
With the exception of Missouri State, these teams would automatically host a super regional if they advanced that far. Missouri State was not able to host because of a venue scheduling conflict.[4]
Bold indicates College World Series participant
† indicates teams that were eliminated in the Regional Tournament
‡ indicates teams that were eliminated in the Super Regional Tournament
Bold indicates winner. Seeds for regional tournaments indicate seeds within regional. Seeds for super regional tournaments indicate national seeds only.
Hosted by Virginia at Davenport Field[5]
†UC Santa Barbara was unable to host at their home stadium, Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, due to inadequate facilities according to NCAA regional hosting guidelines.[6]
Hosted by Arkansas at Baum Stadium, due to a scheduling conflict with the Springfield Cardinals, who also play at Missouri State's Hammons Field.[7]
The College World Series was held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
Seeds listed below indicate national seeds only
The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.[8]
Seeds listed below indicate national seeds only
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion. Nc is non-conference, that is, without games played against teams within the same conference; there may be no difference from overall.
NRG Media provided nationwide radio coverage of the College World Series through its Omaha station KOZN, in association with Westwood One. It was streamed at westwoodonesports.com and on TuneIn. Kevin Kugler and John Bishop called all games leading up to the Championship Series with Gary Sharp acting as the field reporter. The Championship Series was called by Kugler and Scott Graham with Sharp acting as the field reporter.
ESPN carried every game from the Regionals, Super Regionals, and College World Series across the ESPN Networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, LHN, and ESPN3). ESPN also provided "Bases Loaded" coverage for the Regionals. Bases Loaded was hosted by Brendan Fitzgerald and Matt Schick with Kyle Peterson and Ben McDonald providing analysis. "Bases Loaded" aired Friday-Sunday from 1 p.m.–midnight EDT and Monday from 6 p.m.–midnight EDT on ESPN3. ESPN2 and ESPNU aired "Bases Loaded" in between games and throughout other select times during the tournament.[9]