1997 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

1997 NCAA Division I
baseball tournament
Season	1997
Teams	48
Finals site	Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium ; Omaha, NE ;
Champions	LSU (4th title)
Runner-up	Alabama (4th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach	Skip Bertman (4th title)
MOP	Brandon Larson (LSU)
	← 1996 ; NCAA Division I Baseball Championship ; 1998 →;

Last updated June 29, 2025

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.^[1]^[2]^[3] 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.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	Miami (FL)	11

6	Richmond	4	1	Miami (FL)	5

			4	FIU	2

2	Florida	4				1	Miami (FL)	3

5	St. John's	3				3	Arizona State	10

			2	Florida	2							3	Arizona State	6	5

			3	Arizona State	3							1	Miami (FL)	7	6

3	Arizona State	10							1	Miami (FL)	6¹¹

4	FIU	2				2	Florida	16	2	Florida	5

			6	Richmond	10	6	Richmond	2

			5	St. John's	4

Central Regional

Hosted by Texas Tech at Dan Law Field in Lubbock, Texas.


First round			Second round			Third round			Final



			6	Southwest Texas State	1

			4	Nevada	7
1	Texas Tech	6				4	Nevada	9

6	Southwest Texas State	7				5	Southwest Missouri State	10
			1	Texas Tech	2

			5	Southwest Missouri State	4
2	Rice	5							5	Southwest Missouri State	6	—

5	Southwest Missouri State	2							2	Rice	25	—
			2	Rice	10

			3	Clemson	6
3	Clemson	13				2	Rice	13

4	Nevada	9				6	Southwest Texas State	9
			6	Southwest Texas State	12

			3	Clemson	7

East Regional

Hosted by Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	Florida State	4

6	Marist	2	1	Florida State	16

			3	UCF	2

2	Auburn	11				1	Florida State	7

5	Western Carolina	3				2	Auburn	8

			2	Auburn	9							2	Auburn	7	5

			4	South Florida	0							1	Florida State	9	2

3	UCF	4							1	Florida State	6

4	South Florida	5				4	South Florida	9	4	South Florida	5

			6	Marist	3	5	Western Carolina	4

			5	Western Carolina	8

Mideast Regional

Hosted by Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	Georgia Tech	5

6	Tennessee Tech	0	1	Georgia Tech	8

			3	Southwestern Louisiana	0

2	Mississippi State	8				1	Georgia Tech	4

5	Ohio State	5				4	Washington	8

			2	Mississippi State	4							4	Washington	5	3

			4	Washington	5							2	Mississippi State	7	4

3	Southwestern Louisiana	4							1	Georgia Tech	2

4	Washington	5				2	Mississippi State	25	2	Mississippi State	10

			6	Tennessee Tech	5	6	Tennessee Tech	5

			5	Ohio State	3

Midwest Regional

Hosted by Oklahoma State at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	UCLA	2

6	Harvard	7	6	Harvard	8

			4	Stetson	6

2	Tennessee	5				6	Harvard	7

5	Ohio	2				3	Oklahoma State	10

			2	Tennessee	1							3	Oklahoma State	2	2

			3	Oklahoma State	6							1	UCLA	14	22

3	Oklahoma State	8							6	Harvard	9

4	Stetson	1				2	Tennessee	3	1	UCLA	14

			1	UCLA	15	1	UCLA	5

			5	Ohio	1

South I Regional

Hosted by Louisiana State at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	LSU	14

6	UNC Greensboro	0	1	LSU	14

			3	Oklahoma	3

2	South Alabama	12				1	LSU	5

5	Houston	6				2	South Alabama	11

			2	South Alabama	12							2	South Alabama	4	4

			4	Long Beach State	4							1	LSU	14	15

3	Oklahoma	0							1	LSU	14*

4	Long Beach State	1				4	Long Beach State	14	4	Long Beach State	7*

			6	UNC Greensboro	9	6	UNC Greensboro	4

			5	Houston	5

South II Regional

Hosted by Alabama at Sewell–Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	Alabama	8

6	Troy State	5	1	Alabama	6

			4	Wichita State	2

2	Southern California	2				1	Alabama	6

5	Virginia Tech	3				3	NC State	3

			5	Virginia Tech	6							1	Alabama	9*	—

			3	NC State	12							2	Southern California	8*	—

3	NC State	10*							3	NC State	4

4	Wichita State	9*				5	Virginia Tech	2	2	Southern California	13

			6	Troy State	2	2	Southern California	6

			2	Southern California	5

West Regional

Hosted by Stanford at Sunken Diamond in Stanford, California.


Round 1			Round 2			Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Final



1	Stanford	12

6	Northeastern	3	1	Stanford	3

			3	Texas A&M	1

2	Cal State Fullerton	0				1	Stanford	9

5	Santa Clara	5				5	Santa Clara	2

			5	Santa Clara	8							1	Stanford	5	—

			4	Fresno State	1							4	Fresno State	2	—

3	Texas A&M	1							5	Santa Clara	7

4	Fresno State	2				4	Fresno State	8	4	Fresno State	10

			6	Northeastern	4	2	Cal State Fullerton	7

			2	Cal State Fullerton	8

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	Rice	WAC	47–14 (20–9)	Wayne Graham	0 (last: none)	none	0–0
8	Mississippi State	SEC	46–19 (19–11)	Ron Polk	5 (last: 1990)	3rd (1985)	5–10

Results

Bracket

First round			Second round			Semifinals				Finals

1	Alabama	3

8	Mississippi State	2
			1	Alabama	1

			5	Miami (FL)	6
4	UCLA	3

5	Miami (FL)	7
						5	Miami (FL)	6	2

						1	Alabama	8	8
8	Mississippi State	7

4	UCLA	5
			1	Alabama	9

			8	Mississippi State	5



										1	Alabama	6

										2	LSU	13
2	LSU	5

7	Rice	4
			2	LSU	10

			3	Stanford	5
3	Stanford	8

6	Auburn	3
						2	LSU	13	—

						3	Stanford	9	—
7	Rice	1

6	Auburn	10
			3	Stanford	11

			6	Auburn	4

Game results

Date	Game	Winner	Score	Loser	Notes
May 30	Game 1	Stanford	8–3	Auburn
May 30	Game 2	LSU	5–4	Rice
May 31	Game 3	Miami (FL)	7–3 (12 innings)	UCLA
May 31	Game 4	Alabama	3–2	Mississippi State
June 1	Game 5	LSU	10–5	Stanford
June 1	Game 6	Auburn	10–1	Rice	Rice eliminated
June 2	Game 7	Miami (FL)	6–1	Alabama
June 2	Game 8	Mississippi State	7–5	UCLA	UCLA eliminated
June 3	Game 9	Stanford	11–4	Auburn	Auburn eliminated
June 3	Game 10	Alabama	9–5	Mississippi State	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
P	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

References

↑ https://dev.thecrimson.com/article/1997/5/16/baseball-splits-in-playoff-versus-army/
↑ https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/5/19/baseball-goes-to-ncaa-finals-pfor/
↑ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 195. Retrieved November 5, 2014.

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[1] ttps://dev.thecrimson.com/article/1997/5/16/baseball-splits-in-playoff-versus-army/

[2] ttps://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/5/19/baseball-goes-to-ncaa-finals-pfor/

[NCAA-3] "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 195. Retrieved November 5, 2014.

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