1997 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament

1997 Southeastern Conference
baseball tournament
Teams8
FormatPlay-in round followed by six-team double elimination
Finals site
ChampionsAlabama (4th title)
Winning coachJim Wells (3rd title)
MVPDavid Tidwell (Alabama)
Attendance42,000

The 1997 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament was the 1997 postseason baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference, held at Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia, from May 14 through 18. Alabama defeated LSU in the championship game, earning the conference's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

Format

Eight teams qualified for the league tournament. The teams seeded fifth through eighth played a single-elimination play-in round. The two winners of the play-in games advanced to the main bracket, which was a six-team, double-elimination format, the same as the NCAA regional format used through 1998.

Regular season results

Eastern Division
Team W L Pct GB Seed
Florida 17 13 .567 -- 3
Tennessee 17 13 .567 -- 4
Vanderbilt 14 16 .467 3 --†
South Carolina 13 17 .433 4 8
Kentucky 10 20 .333 7 --
Georgia 8 22 .267 9 --
Western Division
Team W L Pct GB Seed
LSU 22 7 .759 -- 1
Alabama 20 9 .690 2 2
Mississippi State 19 11 .633 3.5 5
Auburn 17 12 .586 5 6
Arkansas 15 14 .517 7 7
Ole Miss 6 24 .200 16.5 --

†- Vanderbilt forfeited its conference games and tournament berth for using an ineligible player.

Tournament

Play-in games

Play-in game
   
6 Auburn 7
7 Arkansas 3
Play-in game
   
5 Mississippi State 12
8 South Carolina 9

Main bracket

First roundSecond roundThird roundSemifinalsFinal
1LSU5
6Auburn21LSU12
4Tennessee5
2Alabama161LSU12
5Mississippi State32Alabama7
2Alabama131LSU2--
3Florida62Alabama12--
3Florida72Alabama6
4Tennessee63Florida173Florida3
6Auburn56Auburn5
5Mississippi State4

All-tournament team

Position Player School
1B Robbie Tucker Alabama
2B Blair Barbier LSU
3B Andy Phillips Alabama
SS Brandon Larson LSU
C Matt Frick Alabama
OF David Tidwell Alabama
OF Dustan Mohr Alabama
OF Danny Higgins LSU
DH Brad Wilkerson Florida
P Jared Kingrey Alabama
P Kevin Knorst Alabama
MVP David Tidwell Alabama

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "SEC Tournament History". SECDigitalNetwork.com. The Southeastern Conference. pp. 25–31. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  2. ↑ "SEC Awards Columbus '97 Baseball Tourney". nl.newsbank.com. The Ledger Enquirer. July 1, 1995. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Nation, Boyd. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1997". BoydsWorld.com. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Vanderbilt Baseball Fact Book" (PDF). grfx.CSTV.com. Vanderbilt University Sports Information Department. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2012.