1997 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament

1997 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1997
Teams	8
Format	Play-in round followed by six-team double elimination
Site	Golden Park Columbus, Georgia
Champions	Alabama (4th title)
Winning coach	Jim Wells (3rd title)
MVP	David Tidwell (Alabama)
Attendance	42,000[1]
Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament «1996  1998»

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 14-18. Alabama defeated LSU in the championship game, earning the conference's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.^[1][2]

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 --

^[3]

†- Vanderbilt forfeited its conference games and tournament berth for using an ineligible player.^[4]

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

	1	LSU	5
	6	Auburn	2			1	LSU	12
						4	Tennessee	5
	2	Alabama	16								1	LSU	12
	5	Mississippi State	3								2	Alabama	7
						2	Alabama	13													1	LSU	2	--
						3	Florida	6													2	Alabama	12	--
	3	Florida	7													2	Alabama	6
	4	Tennessee	6								3	Florida	17			3	Florida	3
						6	Auburn	5			6	Auburn	5
						5	Mississippi State	4

^[1]

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

^[1]

See also

• College World Series
• NCAA Division I Baseball Championship
• Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament

References

1. "SEC Tournament History". SECDigitalNetwork.com. The Southeastern Conference. pp. 25–31. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
2. "SEC Awards Columbus '97 Baseball Tourney". nl.newsbank.com. The Ledger Enquirer. 1 July 1995. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
3. Nation, Boyd. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1997". BoydsWorld.com. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
4. "Vanderbilt Baseball Fact Book" (PDF). grfx.CSTV.com. Vanderbilt University Sports Information Department. p. 79. Retrieved 29 May 2012.