Page 1 of 1

The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 7:43 am
by Alan
I very much enjoy watching the lady Ducks play softball although I don't budget much time to watch during the regular season. I discovered last night that at this high level of collegiate softball there is a mercy rule. If one team is up by eight runs at the end of five innings games over. A little bit of mixed feelings....... seems a bit little league, what is the official reasoning behind the rule? Along with that why not play nine innings like the men?

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 7:57 am
by Tray Dub
I don't know that the NCAA has issued any kind of official statement, but I think the rationale is to keep boring games from dragging out and protect bad teams from getting demolished. High-scoring games can get really long since there's no time limits and good teams can score double-digit runs against small schools (which we did a few times this year).

I think it's a decent rule for regular season games but should be removed for postseason games.

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 12:31 pm
by DaDads
Do you mean small, as in Kentucky?

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 6:22 pm
by DuckNV
DaDads wrote:Do you mean small, as in Kentucky?
In their regional round, Kentucky outscored their opponents 28-1 and run ruled in all three games. Two of those games were against Norte Dame, so apparently even big schools are capable of getting blown out beyond the ability to recover.

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 7:56 pm
by Alan
Tray Dub wrote:I don't know that the NCAA has issued any kind of official statement, but I think the rationale is to keep boring games from dragging out and protect bad teams from getting demolished. High-scoring games can get really long since there's no time limits and good teams can score double-digit runs against small schools (which we did a few times this year).

I think it's a decent rule for regular season games but should be removed for postseason games.
Thanks for the explanation on lesser talented teams, I can see the need for the rule in those cases. I completly agree. the rule should be lifted for post season play. These are not lesser, for the most part, talented teams and a five run inning in the sixth inning makes it a decent game again when your going after a shot at the national title.

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 8:04 pm
by UofDuck
I get it. Its not too dissimilar to playing in the PGA and missing the cut. If you are that far back after a few day, sorry. Its on you to not let that happen.

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 10:17 am
by oregontrack
my argument would be less that softball should change what they’re doing, and more that baseball (at least college) should adopt a similar approach. as an oregon baseball fan, i’ve sat through some abysmal late inning games down by 8+ runs that are made worse because of the pointlessness of it all. oh, another pitching change? cool, this game needed to be 4+ hours long.

and i believe softball is 7 innings from the HS level through professional and international levels. that’s just how the sport is structured.

Re: The mercy rule

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 7:31 am
by Greenblood
For the final best-of-three series in the softball CWS, the mercy rule is removed.