The 1997 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1997 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its fifty first year. Eight regional competitions were held to determine the participants in the final event. Each region was composed of six teams, resulting in 48 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament; Ivy League champion Harvard played Patriot League champion Army in a play-in series that went the full three games to determine who would play in the NCAA tournament. The fifty-first tournament's champion was LSU, coached by Skip Bertman. The Most Outstanding Player was Brandon Larson of LSU.
Regionals The opening rounds of the tournament were played across eight regional sites across the country, each consisting of a six-team field. Each regional tournament is double-elimination, however region brackets are variable depending on the number of teams remaining after each round. The winners of each regional advanced to the College World Series.
Bold indicates winner.
Atlantic Regional Hosted by Miami (FL) at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Florida.
Central Regional Hosted by Texas Tech at Dan Law Field in Lubbock, Texas.
East Regional Hosted by Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
Mideast Regional Hosted by Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
Midwest Regional Hosted by Oklahoma State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
South I Regional Hosted by Louisiana State at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
South II Regional Hosted by Alabama at Sewell–Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
West Regional Hosted by Stanford at Sunken Diamond in Stanford, California.
College World Series
Participants Seeding School Conference Record (conference) Head coach CWS appearances CWS best finish CWS record 1 Alabama SEC 52–12 (20–9) Jim Wells 3(last: 1996) 2nd(1983) 5–6 2 LSU SEC 53–13 (22–7) Skip Bertman 8(last: 1996) 1st(1991, 1993, 1996) 19–11 3 Stanford Pac-10 43–18 (21–9) Mark Marquess 9(last: 1995) 1st(1987, 1988) 21–16 4 UCLA Pac-10 45–19–1 (19–11) Gary Adams 1(last: 1969) 7th(1969) 0–2 5 Miami (FL) n/a 49–16 (n/a) Jim Morris 15(last: 1996) 1st(1982, 1985) 32–26 6 Auburn SEC 49–15 (17–12) Hal Baird 3(last: 1994) 4th(1967) 2–6 7 WAC 47–14 (20–9) Wayne Graham 0(last: none) none 0–0 8 SEC 46–19 (19–11) Ron Polk 5(last: 1990) 3rd(1985) 5–10
Results
Bracket
Game results Date Game Winner Score Loser Notes May 30 Game 1 Stanford 8–3 Auburn Game 2 LSU 5–4 May 31 Game 3 Miami (FL) 7–3 (12 innings) UCLA Game 4 Alabama 3–2 June 1 Game 5 LSU 10–5 Stanford Game 6 Auburn 10–1 Rice eliminated June 2 Game 7 Miami (FL) 6–1 Alabama Game 8 7–5 UCLA UCLA eliminated June 3 Game 9 Stanford 11–4 Auburn Auburn eliminated Game 10 Alabama 9–5 Mississippi State eliminated June 4 Game 11 LSU 13–9 Stanford Stanford eliminated June 5 Game 12 Alabama 8–6 Miami (FL) June 6 Game 13 Alabama 8–2 Miami (FL) Miami (FL) eliminated June 7 Final LSU 13–6 Alabama LSU wins CWS
All-Tournament Team The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.
Position Player School P Jeff Austin Stanford Jarrod Kingrey Alabama C Matt Frick Alabama 1B Eddy Furniss LSU 2B Joe Caruso Alabama 3B Andy Phillips Alabama SS Brandon Larson (MOP) LSU OF Tom Bernhardt LSU G.W. Keller Alabama Mike Koerner LSU DH Mark Peer Alabama
Notable players Alabama: Dustan Mohr, Andy Phillips Auburn: Josh Hancock, Tim Hudson, David Ross LSU: Brandon Larson Miami (FL): Pat Burrell, Bobby Hill, Aubrey Huff, Jason Michaels Mississippi State: Eric DuBose, Matt Ginter, Adam Piatt Rice: Matt Anderson, Lance Berkman, Kevin Joseph Stanford: Jeff Austin, Tony Cogan, Chad Hutchinson, Kyle Peterson UCLA: Eric Byrnes, Troy Glaus, Tom Jacquez, Jim Parque, Eric Valent
See also 1997 NCAA Division II baseball tournament 1997 NCAA Division III baseball tournament 1997 NAIA World Series
References