Fansided

Does college baseball have a run rule?

By Brett Gibbons

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 16: Oregon State's Steven Kwan (4) dives back to first against North Carolina's Michael Busch (15) during game 1 of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 16: Oregon State's Steven Kwan (4) dives back to first against North Carolina's Michael Busch (15) during game 1 of the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In 2018, Texas Tech had one of the most explosive offenses in the country, winning by 10 or more runs 11 times during their 65 game season; one of those games included a 26-6 drubbing of Kansas State. With blowouts like this becoming more and more common, does college baseball even have a run rule?

Does college baseball have a run rule?

The answer is: sometimes.

Currently, the NCAA’s mercy rule is dictated by conference and usually only applies to the final day of a series or conference tournaments. The rule is implemented to help teams out who might be traveling to their next series that same day or for teams that have played four or five days in a row.

But on Saturdays in West Texas, there was no escape for Kansas State from the onslaught of runs, including nine scored in the third inning alone.

The Red Raiders were one of the more exciting teams to watch in 2018, averaging 8.1 runs per game (third), 1.26 home runs per game (13th), and a 0.309 team batting average (8th). This kind of powerful offense can cause some seriously lopsided affairs against teams whose bats might have a quiet game.

Why does college baseball score so many more runs than the MLB?

The simple answer is the disparity in talent, much like in college football, where teams regularly score 50+ points. The MLB has a much more even parity between good pitchers and good hitters.

Despite the rise of composite bats in NCAA baseball, aluminum metal is still the preferred choice of players nationwide. Aluminum bats are linked to faster ball exit velocity which, in turn, leads to more home runs and a higher scoring game. For an increasingly younger viewership in NCAA Baseball, the higher scoring games is a big allure.

Next. . dark

Will College Baseball implement a more regular mercy rule?

With dozens of more issues like pace-of-play pressing game officials at all levels, it is not likely that we’ll see a regular mercy rule implemented in College Baseball anytime soon.

The question of whether they should or not depends on what team you root for.