[MrNFL_FanIQ]

The 1954 NCAA postseason began with the double round-robin group play. In group A, unranked Princeton went 5-1 and #14 Western Michigan went 3-3, advancing and stunning #1 Army and #5 Miami, who both went 2-4. #13 Bradley won Group B at 5-1 while both #10 Ball State and #24 Penn both went 3-3; the Cardinals advancing on the tiebreaker. Minnesota was last at 1-5. In Group C, unranked St. John’s were first at 5-1 with Big Ten champ #12 Purdue advancing at 4-2. Eastern Michigan went 2-4 and #22 Maine was 1-5. And in group D, #21 Butler went 4-2 to win it. Previous regional champ #20 The Citadel and #2 William & Mary both went 3-3 with the Tribe losing out on the tiebreaker. #23 Michigan State was 2-4.

Switching regions, Group E was won by Pac 10 champ and unranked Santa Clara at 5-1. #7 Hawaii at 3-3 was the other to advance while Rice and #15 UC Irvine both were 2-4. Group F, the “group of death” had #8 Denver prevail at 5-1 and #6 San Jose State at 4-2 moved on, while #3 Tennessee was eliminated after going 2-1 and #17 Oklahoma State went 1-5. Group G’s top team was #16 Vanderbilt going 4-2. Both #19 Montana and #9 UTEP both finished 3-3 with the Grizzlies holding the tiebreaker while #18 Colorado was 2-4. And Group H, #4 Gonzaga won at 4-2. Unranked Nevada moved on at 3-3, holding the tiebreaker over #11 and defending national champ Georgia Tech, eliminating the Yellow Jackets. Unranked Clemson was 2-4.

Gonzaga at #4 was the highest ranked team to make the Sweet 16 with the other Top 10 teams to advance were #6 San Jose State, #7 Hawaii, #8 Denver, and #10 Ball State.

In the best-of-three Sweet 16 for the East Region, unranked Princeton continued to roll by sweeping #10 Ball State. #13 Bradley ousted #14 Western Michigan in two. #20 The Citadel won in three over St. John’s and #21 Butler downed #12 Purdue in three.

In the South-West Region, the most exciting series unranked Santa Clara upset #6 San Jose State in three. The Broncos took game one 3-2 in 12 innings, followed by a 1-0 Spartans win with the lone run in the top of the ninth. Game three went 17 innings, won by Santa Clara on a T.J. Chavez RBI double to win it.



#8 Denver swept #7 Hawaii. #16 Vanderbilt swept unranked Nevada, and #19 Montana upset #4 Gonzaga in three. The Grizzlies scored a run in the top of the ninth to win game three 4-3.

To the Elite Eight, the only team back from the prior year was The Citadel. Princeton kept rolling as they shutout #13 Bradley twice, 3-0, and 2-0. On the other side of the region, #20 Butler took game one over #21 The Citadel 4-2. But The Citadel took game two 6-3 and won the clincher 1-0, sending those Bulldogs to back-to-back-to-back regional finals. #8 Denver took game one 5-2 over Santa Clara, then the Broncos grabbed game two 9-0. Game three went to the Pioneers 6-4. Joining them in the regional final is Vanderbilt, as the 16^th ranked Commodores swept #19 Montana on 5-1 and 3-2 wins. Game two went 10 innings with a walkoff single.



In the East Regional Championship, Princeton and The Citadel the finalists despite being the last two teams in the East Region field. = Princeton took game one 3-2 in 10 innings, scoring the winner in the top half on a sacrifice fly. In game two, the Tigers won 6-4, moving them to the College World Series and preventing The Citadel from back-to-back regional titles. In the South-West region, #16 Vanderbilt defeated #8 Denver 4-2 in game one and 3-1 in game two.



The 1954 College World Series had a bit of a surprising pairing, with Vanderbilt finishing third in the SEC and Princeton third in the EIBL. The Tigers entered on a 10-game winning streak in the playoffs, but the Commodores snapped it with a 5-2 win in game one. Game two saw an 8-2 Vanderbilt win. Princeton avoided the sweep with a 2-1 win in game three and snagged game four 5-3, setting up a game five for the National Championship. In the grand finale, the Commodores edged the Tigers 2-1; the first title for a SEC team. First baseman Cris D’Angelo was the series MVP with five hits, two home runs, and five RBI.