1997 Southland Conference baseball tournament
The 1997 Southland Conference baseball tournament was held from May 14 to 17, 1997[2] to determine the champion of the Southland Conference in the sport of college baseball for the 1997 season. The event pitted the top six finishers from the conference's regular season in a double-elimination tournament held at Warhawk Field, home field of Northeast Louisiana in Monroe, Louisiana. Second-seeded Southwest Texas State won their first championship and claimed the automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.[3]
| Teams | 6 |
|---|---|
| Format | Double-elimination |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Southwest Texas State (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Howard Bushong (1st title) |
| MVP | Jeremy Fikac (Southwest Texas State) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State x | 19 | – | 9 | – | 0 | .679 | 35 | – | 22 | – | 0 | .614 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeast Louisianae | 17 | – | 11 | – | 0 | .607 | 33 | – | 21 | – | 0 | .611 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McNeese State | 11 | – | 19 | – | 0 | .367 | 19 | – | 31 | – | 1 | .382 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholls State | 9 | – | 19 | – | 0 | .321 | 19 | – | 35 | – | 0 | .352 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest Texas State x‡y | 18 | – | 11 | – | 0 | .621 | 38 | – | 26 | – | 0 | .594 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston State | 17 | – | 11 | – | 0 | .607 | 36 | – | 27 | – | 0 | .571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–Arlington | 12 | – | 17 | – | 0 | .414 | 22 | – | 35 | – | 0 | .386 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–San Antonio | 12 | – | 18 | – | 0 | .400 | 20 | – | 36 | – | 0 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| x – Division champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1997[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding and format
The top six finishers from the regular season were seeded one through six. They played a double-elimination tournament.
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Bracket and results
| First round | Second round | Third round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Northwestern State | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UTSA | 5 | 6 | UTSA | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Northeast Louisiana | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sam Houston State | 9 | 6 | UTSA | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Northeast Louisiana | 8 | 3 | Sam Houston State | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sam Houston State | 12 | 6 | UTSA | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Texas–Arlington | 3 | 2 | Southwest Texas State | 8 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Southwest Texas State | 10 | 3 | Sam Houston State | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Texas–Arlington | 11 | 5 | Texas–Arlington | 1 | 2 | Southwest Texas State | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Northwestern State | 3 | 2 | Southwest Texas State | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Southwest Texas State | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[3]
| Pos. | Name | School |
|---|---|---|
| P | David Balcer | Northwestern State |
| Jeremy Fikac | Southwest Texas State | |
| C | Chad Spear | Southwest Texas State |
| 1B | Ron Thames | Sam Houston State |
| 2B | Brad Prihoda | Sam Houston State |
| 3B | Brad Eubank | Southwest Texas State |
| SS | Tim Linville | Texas–Arlington |
| OF | Sean Alvarez | UTSA |
| Matt Schnabel | Southwest Texas State | |
| Colin Wissen | Southwest Texas State | |
| DH | Tony Gee | UTSA |
Most Valuable Player
Jeremy Fikac was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Fikac was a pitcher for Southwest Texas State.[3]
References
- "2018 Southland Conference Baseball" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 15. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- 2018 Baseball Media Guide (PDF). Northwestern State Demons. p. 44. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
- 2018 Baseball Record Book (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 28. Retrieved January 6, 2019.