1997 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament

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.^[1][2]

1997 Southeastern Conference
baseball tournament

Teams	8
Format	Play-in round followed by six-team double elimination
Finals site	Golden Park Columbus, Georgia
Champions	Alabama (4th title)
Winning coach	Jim Wells (3rd title)
MVP	David Tidwell (Alabama)
Attendance	42,000[1]
← 1996 SEC baseball tournament 1998 →

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

	Round 1					Round 2					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final
	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