1981 NCAA Division III baseball tournament

1981 NCAA Division III
baseball tournament
Season	1981
Teams	24
Finals site	Pioneer Park; Marietta, Ohio;
Champions	Marietta (1st title)
Runner-up	Ithaca
MOP	John Schaly (Marietta)

The 1981 NCAA Division III baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1981 NCAA Division III baseball season to determine the sixth national champion of college baseball at the NCAA Division III level. The tournament concluded with four teams competing at Pioneer Park in Marietta, Ohio, for the championship. Four regional tournaments were held to determine the participants in the World Series. Regional tournaments were contested in double-elimination format, with all four regions consisting of six teams, for a total of 24 teams participating in the tournament. The tournament champion was Marietta, who defeated Ithaca for the championship.^[2]

Bids

The 24 competing teams were:

School	Nickname	Location	Conference	Tournament appearance	Last appearance	Consecutive tournament appearances	Previous best performance
Alma College	Scots	Alma, MI	Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	2nd	1980	2	Regional Fifth Place (1980)
Buena Vista College	Beavers	Storm Lake, IA	Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	2nd	1980	2	Regional Third Place (1980)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges	Stags	Claremont, CA	Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	3rd	1979	1	Regional Runner-Up (1979)
Eastern Connecticut State College	Warriors	Willimantic, CT	Independent	6th	1980	6	Regional Runner-Up (1979)
Elmhurst College	Blue Jays	Elmhurst, IL	College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin	2nd	1980	2	Regional Fourth place (1980)
Ithaca College	Bombers	Ithaca, NY	Inedependent College Athletic Conference	6th	1980	6	National Champion (1980)
Marietta College	Pioneers	Marietta, OH	Ohio Athletic Conference	6th	1980	6	World Series Runner-Up (1978, 1980)
Monmouth College	Fighting Scots	Monmouth, IL	Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference	2nd	1976	1	Regional Runner-Up (1976)
North Carolina Wesleyan College	Battling Bishops	Rocky Mount, NC	Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	1st	Debut	1	Debut
Ohio Northern University	Polar Bears	Ada, OH	Ohio Athletic Conference	3rd	1980	2	Regional third place (1980)
Otterbein College	Cardinals	Westerville, OH	Ohio Athletic Conference	1st	Debut	1	Debut
Queens College	Knights	New York City, NY (Queens)	Independent	2nd	1976	1	Regional Fourth place (1976)
Ramapo College of New Jersey	Roadrunners	Mahwah, NJ	New Jersey State Athletic Conference	2nd	1980	2	Regional third place (1980)
Salisbury State College	Sea Gulls	Salisbury, MD	Independent	4th	1980	2	Regional Runner-Up (1980)
St. Olaf College	Oles	Northfield, MN	Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	5th	1980	5	Regional third place (1977, 1979)
State University of New York College at Cortland	Red Dragons	Cortland, NY	State University of New York Athletic Conference	1st	Debut	1	Debut
The College of Wooster	Fighting Scots	Wooster, OH	Ohio Athletic Conference	5th	1980	5	Regional Runner-Up (1978, 1979, 1980)
Lynchburg College	Hornets	Lynchburg, VA	Old Dominion Athletic Conference	6th	1980	6	Regional Runner-Up (1977, 1978)
Upsala College	Vikings	East Orange, NJ	Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Conference	5th	1980	4	World Series Third place (1980)
Westfield State College	Owls	Westfield, MA	Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference	5th	1980	1	Regional Runner-Up (1977)
William Paterson University of New Jersey	Pioneers	Wayne Township, NJ	New Jersey State Athletic Conference	2nd	1977	1	Regional Fourth place (1977)
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh	Titans	Oshkosh, WI	Wisconsin State University Conference	3rd	1980	3	World Series Fourth place (1980)
York College of Pennsylvania	Spartans	York, PA	Independent	2nd	1977	1	Regional Fifth place (1977)

Regionals

West Regional

Wisconsin-Oshkosh (4–0), Elmhurst (2–2), Otterbein (2–2), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1–2), St. Olaf (1–2), Buena Vista (0–2)

South Regional

North Carolina Wesleyan (4–1), Lynchburg (3–2), Ramapo (2–2), Upsala (2–2), William Paterson (1–2), Salisbury State (1–2)

Records as listed on Baseball Reference. Either William Paterson or Salisbury State would have to have been 0–2 instead of 1–2 and either Ramapo or Upsala would have to have been 1–2 instead of 2-2.

Mideast Regional

Ada, OH (Host: Ohio Northern University)

Marietta (5–1), Alma (3–2), York (PA) (2–2), Wooster (1–2), Monmouth (IL) (0–2), Ohio Northern (0–2)

Northeast Regional

Willimantic, CT (Host: Eastern Connecticut State College)

Ithaca (5–1), Eastern Connecticut State (3–2), unknown (2–2), Westfield State (1–2), Queens (0–2), SUNY Cortland (0–2)

World Series

Participants

School	Nickname	Location	Conference	World Series appearance	Last appearance	Consecutive World Series appearances	Previous best performance
Marietta College	Pioneers	Marietta, OH	Ohio Athletic Conference	4th	1980	2	Runner-Up (1978, 1980)
Ithaca College	Bombers	Ithaca, NY	Inedependent College Athletic Conference	4th	1980	2	National Champion (1980)
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh	Titans	Oshkosh, WI	Wisconsin State University Conference	2nd	1980	2	Fourth place (1980)
North Carolina Wesleyan College	Battling Bishops	Rocky Mount, NC	Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	1st	Debut	1	Debut

Bracket

Pioneer Park-Marietta, OH (Host: Marietta College)


First round/elimination first round		Semifinal/elimination final		Final



Wisconsin-Oshkosh	13

North Carolina Wesleyan	3
		Wisconsin-Oshkosh	6

		Marietta	12
Marietta	6

Ithaca	5
				Marietta	14	--

				Ithaca	12¹²	--
Lower round 1		Lower final



		Wisconsin-Oshkosh	3

North Carolina Wesleyan	6	Ithaca	11

Ithaca	7

References

^ Carson, Jim (August 22, 1991). "Saint Leo hires Georgia coach". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
^ "Marietta avenges loss in title game". d3baseball.com. May 30, 2006. Retrieved January 17, 2018.

[1] Carson, Jim (August 22, 1991). "Saint Leo hires Georgia coach". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 4, 2025.

[2] "Marietta avenges loss in title game". d3baseball.com. May 30, 2006. Retrieved January 17, 2018.

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