Okay, so, I wanted to see for myself what the deal was with extra innings in NCAA baseball. You know, it’s different from the pros, and I was curious how it all works. So I decided to dive in.
First, I went to a bunch of games. I mean, I watched a lot of college baseball. I sat through rain, I sat through sunshine, I sat through some seriously nail-biting games. All to see if they would go into extra innings.
Then, I started keeping track. Made myself a little notebook, you know, old school. Every time a game went past the ninth inning, I’d jot it down. Noted the teams, the date, the score, all that stuff.
Turns out, in the regular season, if a game’s tied after nine, they go into extras, and starting in the 10th, each team gets a runner on second base to start their half of the inning. I saw this play out a few times. It definitely speeds things up, trying to avoid those marathon games. It’s kind of like a “let’s get this over with” kind of rule. I have some records like:
- March 5th: State vs Tech, Tied 4-4 after 9, State puts a runner on 2nd in the 10th.
- April 12th: University vs College, Tied 2-2 after 9, each team start the 10th with their own runner on 2nd.
- May 20th: Team A vs Team B, 0-0 after 9 innings, Runner on second for both in the tenth.
And I found out that in the postseason, they keep that same rule. Runner on second in extras. It is all about keeping the game moving, I guess. The pitch timer is also a thing throughout, which is interesting. The home team needs to pitch well if they want to win. I watched one game where the visiting team scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th, and that was it, game over.
Another thing I noticed is that there are no time limits in college baseball, unlike some other sports. If they have to play more than 9 innings to decide the winner, that’s what they will do. I learned that a long time ago, one game even went 33 innings.
My Conclusion
So, basically, from what I observed, extra innings in NCAA baseball are all about getting to a winner, but also about not letting games drag on forever. It is a good rule in my opinion. I think this is a good balance. It’s not exactly like the pros, but it’s got its own little quirks that make it interesting. And, hey, who doesn’t love a little extra baseball, right?
