1998 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament

The 1998 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament was held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama from May 13 through 17. Auburn defeated Arkansas in the championship game, earning the Southeastern Conference's automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

1998 Southeastern Conference
baseball tournament

Teams	8
Format	Two pools of four-team double elimination
Finals site	Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover, Alabama
Champions	Auburn (3rd title)
Winning coach	Hal Baird (2nd title)
MVP	Rodney Nye (Arkansas)
Attendance	87,295
← 1997 SEC baseball tournament 1999 →

1998 Southeastern Conference baseball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Eastern Division
No. 7 Florida  x‍†‍‍y	21	–	8		.724			46	–	18		.719
No. 19 South Carolina  ‍‍‍y	19	–	10		.655			42	–	16		.724
Kentucky  ‍‍‍	12	–	18		.400			26	–	31		.456
Tennessee  ‍‍‍	11	–	17		.393			36	–	20		.643
Georgia  ‍‍‍	8	–	21		.276			24	–	30		.444
Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍	6	–	24		.200			25	–	28		.472
Western Division
No. 3 LSU  x‍‍‍y	21	–	9		.700			48	–	19		.716
No. 16 Alabama  ‍‍‍y	19	–	10		.655			43	–	16		.729
No. 12 Auburn  ‍‍‡‍y	16	–	12		.571			46	–	18		.719
No. 6 Mississippi State  ‍‍‍y	14	–	15		.483			37	–	20		.649
Arkansas  ‍‍‍y	13	–	14		.481			37	–	19		.661
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍	13	–	15		.464			30	–	23		.566
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1998[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Regular Season Results

The top four teams (based on conference results) from both the Eastern and Western Divisions earned invites to the tournament. The 12 teams played a 30-game conference schedule, playing 10 three-game series. Each team did not play one team from the opposite division.

For the first time, the SEC tournament used the Omaha format, which was first adopted at the College World Series in 1988. The eight teams were seeded and divided into two four-team brackets; seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 made up bracket one and seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 made up bracket two. Bracket play was double elimination. The two bracket winners met in a single championship game.

Tournament

	First round					Second round					Semifinals						Final
	6	Mississippi State	9
	3	South Carolina	8
						6	Mississippi State	3
						7	Arkansas	10
	7	Arkansas	8
	2	LSU	4
											7	Arkansas	7	-
											6	Mississippi State	3	-
	3	South Carolina	0
	2	LSU	6			6	Mississippi State	7
						2	LSU	5
																	7	Arkansas	5
	5	Auburn	11
																	5	Auburn	7
	4	Alabama	8
						5	Auburn
						1	Florida	4
	8	Kentucky	4
	1	Florida	6
											5	Auburn	3	9
											4	Alabama	4	1
	5	Alabama	8
	8	Kentucky	3			1	Florida	2
						4	Alabama	3

• Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt did not make the tournament.

All-Tournament Team

Most Valuable Player Rodney Nye, Arkansas

Position	Player	School
1B	Rodney Nye	Arkansas
2B	Heath Kelly	Auburn
3B	Chad Wandall	Auburn
SS	Joe Jester	Arkansas
C	Brent Caldwell	Arkansas
OF	Hayden Gliemmo	Auburn
OF	Drew Bounds	Alabama
OF	Jack Welsh	Arkansas
DH	Jayson Cox	Alabama
P	Randy Keisler	Louisiana State
P	Jarrod Kingrey	Alabama
MVP	Rodney Nye	Arkansas

See also

• College World Series
• NCAA Division I Baseball Championship
• Southeastern Conference baseball tournament