UC Riverside

The journey for the '82 team began with its fair share of challenges, including dropping six of its first eight games. However, the team quickly recovered and won 19 of its last 23 games to finish the season with a 36-23 record.
UCR was led by All-Americans Smith and Matt Held, who hit .378 and .341, respectively. On the mound, Scott Wanzer went 13-6 with 17 complete games and Bill Mierzwik had a 10-5 record. Manager Jack Smitheran was also named the Division II Coach of the Year, his second national honor.

"Winning the Championship was numbing and so much emotion was involved," said Curt Smith, a member of the '82 team and formerly a coach for UCR's Baseball team. "It may have been on a smaller scale since we were in Division II, but it is the same feeling. It was all about unity and the fact that we did it together. Every guy was special.

"It went beyond the athletic department," Smith said. "The school and the community got involved. This place was packed. 5,000 people would come out and people would even bring their couches from across the street and sit in the outfield."

The team's biggest challenge that season was from Florida Southern, who was big and physical. Back-to-back one run victories over New Haven and Florida Southern set up a Championship game rematch against Florida Southern. The Highlanders routed the Moccasins 10-1, making them the sixth team to go undefeated through CWS play. It also marked the second Championship in program history. The first came in 1977.