College baseball

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College baseball is baseball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. Compared to American football and basketball in the United States, college competition plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor league fulfills that role.

The first known intercollegiate baseball game took place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1859, between squads representing Amherst College and Williams College. Amherst won, 73-32. This game was one of the last played under the "Massachusetts rules", which prevailed in New England until the "New York rules" developed in the 1840s gradually became accepted.[1] The Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club of St. John's College in New York (now Fordham University) played the first ever nine-man team college baseball game on November 3, 1859 against (the now defunct) St. Francis Xavier College.

As with other intercollegiate sports, most college baseball is played under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The NCAA writes the rules of play, while each sanctioning body supervises season-ending tournaments. The final rounds of the NCAA tournaments are known as the College World Series; one is held on each of the three levels of competition sanctioned by the NCAA. The College World Series for Division I, which is by far the most common reference of the term, takes place in Omaha, Nebraska in June, after the regular season is over. In 2007, the winner of the College World Series was Oregon State University.

EA Sports released MVP 06 NCAA Baseball, the first college baseball video game ever released. It includes most Division I schools. A sequel, MVP 07: NCAA Baseball was also released.

The rules of college baseball are substantially similar to the Official Baseball Rules. Exceptions include the following:

The bat may be made of wood or of aluminum or a metal or composite material that meets NCAA standards.
The designated hitter rule is used. In addition, a player may serve as both pitcher and DH at the same time and may remain in one position when removed in the other.
One or both ends of a doubleheader are sometimes seven innings in length. However, the NCAA has recently tightened the interpretation of what constitutes a regulation game, encouraging schools to play as many nine-inning games as possible.
A mercy rule may be in use, which terminates play when one team is ahead by 10 or more runs after seven innings (6½ innings if the home team is winning). In games that are scheduled for seven innings the rule takes effect in the fifth. This rule is not used in NCAA tournament games. Several conferences institute this rule only on Sundays or the final day of a conference series, so that the visiting team can travel on time.