At home in Omaha: Cats' '59 run ended just short of first national title

Editor’s note: For more than six decades, the UA has been college baseball royalty, making 17 College World Series appearances and winning four national championships. The Star is re-living each of the team’s trips to Omaha.

1959: A rivalry resumes

What went down: Arizona advanced to its second College World Series final in three years before falling to Oklahoma State — the same school that eliminated the UA in 1954 and 1955 — by the score of 5-3.

The Wildcats beat Clemson, Fresno State and Oklahoma State earlier in the series before falling to Fresno State in the winner’s bracket. The Wildcats battled back to play for the crown.

OSU’s Jim Dobson hit .455 for the series and homered in the title game, earning series MVP honors. Not bad for a players who joined the Cowboys late in the spring after playing football. Arizona’s Bob Wilson, Charlie Shoemaker, and Alan Hall made the all-tournament team.

From the archives: The Star’s Abe Chanin wrote that it was a “heart-breaking loss for the Wildcats, who have now been runners-up twice in the NCAA tourney.” He added:

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For five innings Thursday night Dave Baldwin of Arizona and Toby Bensinger dueled brilliantly. Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings. Then in the fourth, Dobson, a 200-pounder who will probably be a starting halfback for the Cowboys football team, caught a Baldwin fast ball and lashed it 385-feet over the wall in left-centerfield.

The Cowboys had hit 17 home runs in their regular 26-game season, and (Ben) Bancroft had seven of them. The swift centerfielder opened up the seventh inning with a 360-foot home run.

He said it: “I’m sure getting tired of being second,” Arizona coach Frank Sancet said.

After Omaha: Arizona was greeted with a welcome-home parade and a banquet downtown following their CWS run. Sancet was presented with the keys to a new Chevrolet Impala. The car, beige with a copper interior, was on display in front of the pioneer hotel in the hours leading up to the banquet.

The big number: $2. Cost of a ticket to the Wildcats’ welcome-home luncheon.