Sometimes there’s just no coming back.
College softball and baseball both have a rule that echoes dominance, in which a team builds such a dominant lead that the game ends early via the mercy rule.
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The rule has gained attention in recent years in college softball, as Oklahoma has put together perhaps the best three-year stretch in college softball history. The Sooners have won three consecutive national championships with a combined record of 176-8, including 104 wins under race rules.
One question remains: Is the rule adopted in postseason formats like the NCAA Tournament and Women’s College World Series?
College Softball Running Rule, Explained
If a team leads by eight or more runs after five complete innings, then the game is called due to the effect of the run rule in college softball. The rule is the same in the regular season as in every NCAA tournament game, including the WCWS.
However, if the home team is in danger of being outscored by one run, they have the opportunity to score to avoid the mercy rule in the bottom half of the inning. For example, if the visiting team takes an 8-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, the home team will have a chance to score a run and avoid the one-run rule.
According to the “2024 and 2025 NCAA Rule Book”:
“A regulation game under the eight-run rule must be called by the home plate umpire if a team is ahead by eight or more runs after five or more tied innings. Complete innings must be played unless the home team reaches the eight-run lead while on any hit that gives the home team an eight-run lead (after 4 1/2 innings) is treated as a game-ending hit (see rule 14.5).Whenever the visiting team reaches the limit in the fifth or any subsequent innings, the home team must have an opportunity to bat in the bottom half of the inning.
College baseball also has a running rule, although it is not enforced as often as softball. Typically, college baseball relies on a 10-run rule after seven innings, but it is not always enforced, as the NCAA encourages teams to generally play nine innings unless they are playing a doubleheader or They do not participate in a midweek non-conference game. .
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Is there an enforcement rule in the WCWS?
In fact, the Women’s College World Series has a run rule in the final event held each year in Oklahoma City, with the grace rule having been used in several games in recent seasons. The rules are the same as the regular season, with the mercy rule taking effect with an eight-run lead in the fifth inning or later.
The run rule did not apply to the WCWS three-game championship final until 2023, according to a rule change an NCAA spokesperson told OU Daily last year.
When contacted by the USA TODAY Network for clarification, an NCAA spokesperson confirmed the rule was still in effect for the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament. As specified in the 2023 Pre-Championship Manual- 24 of the NCAA, “the eight-point rule (rule 6.14) will be in effect for all playoff games.”
Rules of execution in WCWS finals
Only once has there been a run rule in the Women’s College World Series final, when Arizona beat UCLA 10-2 in five innings in 1997.
Oklahoma would have had a run rule victory in Game 1 of the 2022 final series against Texas, but the NCAA decided not to adopt the run rule in this season’s series despite the Sooners’ victory against the Longhorns 16-5.
