1859 college baseball season

The 1859 college baseball season was the first season of intercollegiate baseball in the United States. The competing systems of rules known as Massachusetts Rules and Knickerbocker Rules were both used in different parts of the country. The first game between teams composed completely of players enrolled at separate colleges was held on July 1, 1859, between Amherst College and Williams in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The game was held using Massachusetts rules, and Amherst won 73–32.

The first game to be held using Knickerbocker Rules, largely used today, was held on November 3, 1859, between the St. John's College Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club (known today as Fordham University) and St. Francis Xavier. St. John's won 33–11.