College baseball is baseball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. Compared to American football and basketball in the United States, college competition plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor league fulfills that role.
The first known intercollegiate baseball game took place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1859, between squads representing Amherst College and Williams College. Amherst won, 73-32. This game was one of the last played under the "Massachusetts rules", which prevailed in New England until the "New York rules" developed in the 1840s gradually became accepted.blank">http://www.mentalfloss.com/archives/archive2002-10-16.htm The Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club of St. John's College in New York (now _Fordham University) played the first ever nine-man team college baseball game on November 3, 1859 against (the now defunct) St. Francis Xavier College.
College baseball has grown phenomenally in popularity since the 1980's. Traditionally, it has been played in the early part of the year, with a relatively short schedule and during a time when cold and/or rainy weather hinders the ability for games to be played, particularly in the northern and midwestern parts of the United States. These and other factors have historically led colleges and universities across the nation to effectively consider baseball a minor sport, both in scholarships as well as money and other points of emphasis. But around the 1980's, a few coaches and athletic directors in warm-weather regions of the nation began to recognize the unrealized potential appeal of the sport. They went out and aggressively recruited the sport to potential athletes, as well as made various upgrades to their programs; such as bigger and better stadiums, more money for staff and support salaries, and promotions. As these efforts resulted in better players and overall programs, more television and print media coverage began to emerge. The ESPN Network greatly increased television coverage of the NCAA playoffs and College World Series.
Soon, in many warm-weather regions, college baseball came to be considered a major sport on the level of football and basketball. And even non-warm weather schools started to recognize baseball's potential and began to put considerably more emphasis on it. The University of Nebraska, the University of Notre Dame, and Oregon State University are three notable examples of cold or rainy weather schools with very successful programs. The first two made the College World Series when warm-weather schools placed major emphasis on baseball as well as had the advantage of playing earlier and more games because of favorable climate advantages. And Oregon State has won back-to-back National Championships the last two seasons. Archrival Oregon has not even had a varsity baseball program since 1981, many credit Oregon State's recent success as being a very major, if not the sole factor in Oregon's recent announcement of the sports' return there. For 2008 and succeeding seasons, the NCAA has mandated the first ever start date for baseball. This day is exactly thirteen weeks before the selection of the NCAA tournament field, which takes place on Memorial Day. For 2008, this day is February 22. Many feel this date will give non warm-weather schools more parity in college baseball and help continue to make the sport a major one nationally. As with other intercollegiate sports, most college baseball is played under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The NCAA writes the rules of play, while each sanctioning body supervises season-ending tournaments. The final rounds of the NCAA tournaments are known as the College World Series; one is held on each of the three levels of competition sanctioned by the NCAA. The College World Series for Division I, which is by far the most common reference of the term, takes place in Omaha, Nebraska in June, after the regular season is over. In 2007, the winner of the College World Series was Oregon State University.
EA Sports released MVP 06 NCAA Baseball, the first college baseball video game ever released. It includes most Division I schools. A sequel, MVP 07: NCAA Baseball was also released.
The rules of college baseball are substantially similar to the Official Baseball Rules. Exceptions include the following:
