1996 Conference USA baseball tournament
The 1996 Conference USA baseball tournament was the 1996 postseason college baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Conference USA, held at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, from May 14 through 19. Tulane won the tournament and received Conference USA's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The tournament consisted of nine teams with a play-in game, two double-elimination brackets, and a single-game final.[2]
| Teams | 9 |
|---|---|
| Format | Play-in round followed by eight-team double-elimination tournament |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Tulane (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Rick Jones (1st title) |
| MVP | Jason Fitzgerald (Tulane) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida †y | 20 | – | 4 | .833 | 47 | – | 19 | .712 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulane ‡y | 18 | – | 6 | .750 | 43 | – | 20 | .683 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Miss | 14 | – | 10 | .583 | 32 | – | 28 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UAB | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | 33 | – | 25 | .569 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charlotte | 11 | – | 13 | .458 | 29 | – | 30 | .492 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | 26 | – | 28 | .481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Louis | 9 | – | 12 | .429 | 25 | – | 24 | .510 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisville | 6 | – | 15 | .286 | 18 | – | 36 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 1 | – | 19 | .050 | 5 | – | 34 | .128 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 1996[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season results
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida | 20 | 4 | .833 | -- | 1 |
| Tulane | 18 | 6 | .750 | 2 | 2 |
| Southern Miss | 14 | 10 | .583 | 6 | 3 |
| UAB | 13 | 11 | .542 | 7 | 4 |
| Charlotte | 11 | 13 | .468 | 9 | 5 |
| Memphis | 9 | 11 | .450 | 9 | 6 |
| Saint Louis | 9 | 12 | .429 | 9.5 | 7 |
| Louisville | 6 | 15 | .286 | 12.5 | 8 |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 19 | .050 | 17 | 9 |
- Records listed are conference play only. Marquette and DePaul did not field baseball teams. Houston participated in the Southwest Conference for baseball.
Bracket
Play-in game
The two teams with the worst records in regular season conference play faced each other in a single elimination situation to earn the 8th spot in the conference tournament.
| Play-in game May 14 | ||||
| 9 | Cincinnati | 2 | ||
| 8 | Louisville | 4 | ||
Main Bracket
| First round May 15–16 | Second round May 16–17 | Semifinals May 17–18 | Championship Game May 19 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UAB | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Louisville | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 23 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Louisville | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 13 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UAB | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 9 | 9 | Louisville | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulane | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Saint Louis | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | South Florida | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulane | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Southern Miss | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulane | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Memphis | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Southern Miss | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Southern Miss | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tulane | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Saint Louis | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Memphis | 8 | 7 | Saint Louis | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Southern Miss | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
- Bold indicates the winner of the game.
- Italics indicate that the team was eliminated from the tournament.
Finish order
| Finish | Team | W | L | Pct | Seed | Eliminated By | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tulane† | 4 | 0 | .1000 | 2 | ||
| 2 | South Florida# | 4 | 2 | .667 | 1 | Tulane | |
| 3 | Southern Miss | 2 | 2 | .500 | 3 | Tulane | |
| 4 | Charlotte | 2 | 2 | .500 | 5 | South Florida | |
| 5 | Saint Louis | 1 | 2 | .333 | 7 | Southern Miss | |
| 6 | Louisville | 1 | 2 | .333 | 9 | South Florida | |
| 7 | Memphis | 0 | 2 | .000 | 6 | Saint Louis | |
| 8 | UAB | 0 | 2 | .000 | 7 | South Florida | |
|
† - Winner of the tournament and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. | |||||||
All-Tournament Team
| Position | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
| C | Chad Sutter | Tulane |
| 1B | Cliff Wren | Southern Mississippi |
| 2B | Mike Pursell | Tulane |
| SS | Joe Hammond | Charlotte |
| 3B | Chris Heintz | South Florida |
| OF | Joey Anderson | Charlotte |
| OF | Jason Fitzgerald | Tulane |
| OF | Jason Michonski | South Florida |
| DH | Jeff Davis | Southern Mississippi |
| P | Jack Cressend | Tulane |
| RP | Todd Ardoin | Tulane |
| MVP | Jason Fitzgerald | Tulane |
References
- "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1996". Boyd's World. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- "Conference USA Baseball Historical Records". Conference USA. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved May 21, 2009.