1997 Conference USA Baseball Tournament

The 1997 Conference USA Baseball Tournament was the 1997 postseason baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Conference USA, held at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana from May 13–18. Houston defeated Charlotte in the championship game, earning the conference's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[2]

1997 Conference USA
Baseball Tournament

Teams	10
Format	Play-in round followed by eight-team double-elimination tournament
Finals site	Turchin Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Houston (1st title)
Winning coach	Rayner Noble (1st title)
MVP	Scottie Scott, Houston

1997 Conference USA baseball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Tulane  ‍†‍‍	19	–	7		.731			40	–	21		.656
Houston  ‍‍‡‍^y	19	–	8		.704			40	–	23		.635
South Florida  ‍‍‍^y	18	–	8		.692			39	–	24		.619
Southern Miss  ‍‍‍	16	–	10		.615			34	–	23		.596
Charlotte  ‍‍‍	14	–	12		.538			30	–	26		.536
UAB  ‍‍‍	14	–	13		.519			31	–	29		.517
Louisville  ‍‍‍	11	–	15		.423			23	–	32		.418
Memphis  ‍‍‍	9	–	17		.346			20	–	31		.392
Saint Louis  ‍‍‍	8	–	19		.296			21	–	30		.412
Cincinnati  ‍‍‍	4	–	23		.148			12	–	46		.207
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1997[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

With the completion of Houston's move from the Southwest Conference, the conference expanded to 10 teams in baseball.[3] As a result, the tournament's play-in round was expanded to include the 7th–10th seeds, instead of only the 8th and 9th.[2]

Regular season results

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Seed
Tulane	19	7	.731	-	1
Houston	19	8	.704	0.5	2
South Florida	18	8	.692	1	3
Southern Miss	16	10	.615	3	4
Charlotte	14	12	.538	5	5
UAB	14	13	.519	5.5	6
Louisville	11	15	.423	8	7
Memphis	9	17	.346	10	8
Saint Louis	8	19	.296	11.5	9
Cincinnati	4	23	.148	15.5	10

• Records reflect conference play only.[4]

Bracket

Play-in games

Two play-in games among the four teams with the worst regular season records decided which two teams would have the final two spots in the eight-team double-elimination bracket.

	Play-In Game
	9	Saint Louis	9
	8	Memphis	2

	Play-In Game
	10	Cincinnati	8
	7	Louisville]	5

Double-elimination

	First Round					Second Round					Semifinals						Championship Game
	5	Charlotte	14
	4	Southern Miss	9
						5	Charlotte	8
						1	Tulane	6
	10	Cincinnati	0
	1	Tulane	10
											5	Charlotte	4	9
										1	Tulane	13	2
	10	Cincinnati	0
	4	Southern Miss	5
						4	Southern Miss	2
						1	Tulane	6
																5	Charlotte	7
																2	Houston	22
	7	St. Louis	4
	2	Houston	13
						3	South Florida	0
						2	Houston	2
	6	UAB	2
	3	South Florida	5
											6	UAB	6	8
										2	Houston	5	10
	7	Saint Louis	2
	6	UAB	6
						6	UAB	5
						3	South Florida	3

• Bold indicates the winner of the game.
• Italics indicate that the team was eliminated from the tournament.

All-tournament team

Position	Player	School
C	Scottie Scott	Houston
IF	Keith Graffagnini	Tulane
IF	Joey Hammond	Charlotte
IF	Jason Hill	Charlotte
IF	Shaun Skrehot	Houston
OF	Jason Fitzgerald	Tulane
OF	Nick Rhodes	Charlotte
OF	Goefrey Tomlinson	Houston
DH	Jason Schreiber	Houston
P	Gary Shuford	Charlotte
RP	Chris Mason	UAB
MVP	Scottie Scott	Houston

References

1. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1997". Boyd's World. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
2. "2012 Conference USA Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). pp. 75–93. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
3. Jauss, Bill (25 April 1995). "Conference USA a Double Threat: New League Pushes Football as Well as Basketball". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
4. "College Baseball Conference Standings -- 1997". BoydsWorld.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.