2008 Woodie Awards
NCAA declares ruling on baseball doubleheader
By Mike Mallory
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 4/8/05 Section: Sports
History has been made once again, but this time it's a dubious honor for the NCAA, and its effects have taken a win away from the Slippery Rock baseball team in the process.
The Rock is one of many teams in the region to be affected by an NCAA committee policy entitled, "Rules 5-7 and 5-8." The rules state that in the NCAA, no matter what division the team may be in, that one team may not play in a seven inning baseball game against another and then play another seven inning game later that day against a different team. If two different teams oppose a team in one day, then each game must consist of nine innings. Though, much like inter-conference doubleheaders that are played throughout the season, those games may be seven innings if each game is played against the same team.
The Rock is in violation of this rule, as well as many other teams in the region. Therefore, SRU's 5-1 victory on March 6 against Bloomsburg has been ruled as an unofficial game, according to league rules.
However, the Rock is one of the least affected teams of any in the PSAC. SRU, along with Millersville have each lost a game from the records, but Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg have each lost 10 games from their records. All of the games affected are non-conference matchups and will not impact conference standings in any manner, however.
SRU athletic director Paul Lueken said the NCAA rule has been in place for a long time, but hasn't been enforced up to this point. He was not aware of the source that pointed out the violation of the rule. Lueken said most likely, someone in the NCAA pointed out the rule, seeing that it would benefit them in some manner.
Lueken said the finding will likely change the scheduling structure to having all teams play doubleheaders against the same opponent at all times, and that this result could affect the outcome of records and placement in the region.
According to Rock baseball coach Jeff Messer, Bloomsburg had asked the Rock if it wanted to play a shorter game due to time constraints while the teams were in Fort Myers, Fla., which was a similar situation to other teams in the PSAC that competed in Florida at the start of the season.
"It really doesn't change too many things, but we will just end up playing against the same teams in the doubleheaders when we go down south from now on," Messer said.
Messer said he was surprised the NCAA didn't simply give the teams a warning for the violation, considering that it has never been enforced, but he said that all the teams will have to live with the penalty that has been issued and move forward.
"The committee made a decision and the teams will have to face the consequences and abide by the rule more carefully in the future," Messer said.
The Rock has traveled south for the past 25 seasons to start its season. A memo had been sent out in March by NCAA baseball rules committee chair Chris McKnight about the rules. A total of 46 games across the NCAA were negated for violation of the policy.
The Rock is one of many teams in the region to be affected by an NCAA committee policy entitled, "Rules 5-7 and 5-8." The rules state that in the NCAA, no matter what division the team may be in, that one team may not play in a seven inning baseball game against another and then play another seven inning game later that day against a different team. If two different teams oppose a team in one day, then each game must consist of nine innings. Though, much like inter-conference doubleheaders that are played throughout the season, those games may be seven innings if each game is played against the same team.
The Rock is in violation of this rule, as well as many other teams in the region. Therefore, SRU's 5-1 victory on March 6 against Bloomsburg has been ruled as an unofficial game, according to league rules.
However, the Rock is one of the least affected teams of any in the PSAC. SRU, along with Millersville have each lost a game from the records, but Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg have each lost 10 games from their records. All of the games affected are non-conference matchups and will not impact conference standings in any manner, however.
SRU athletic director Paul Lueken said the NCAA rule has been in place for a long time, but hasn't been enforced up to this point. He was not aware of the source that pointed out the violation of the rule. Lueken said most likely, someone in the NCAA pointed out the rule, seeing that it would benefit them in some manner.
Lueken said the finding will likely change the scheduling structure to having all teams play doubleheaders against the same opponent at all times, and that this result could affect the outcome of records and placement in the region.
According to Rock baseball coach Jeff Messer, Bloomsburg had asked the Rock if it wanted to play a shorter game due to time constraints while the teams were in Fort Myers, Fla., which was a similar situation to other teams in the PSAC that competed in Florida at the start of the season.
"It really doesn't change too many things, but we will just end up playing against the same teams in the doubleheaders when we go down south from now on," Messer said.
Messer said he was surprised the NCAA didn't simply give the teams a warning for the violation, considering that it has never been enforced, but he said that all the teams will have to live with the penalty that has been issued and move forward.
"The committee made a decision and the teams will have to face the consequences and abide by the rule more carefully in the future," Messer said.
The Rock has traveled south for the past 25 seasons to start its season. A memo had been sent out in March by NCAA baseball rules committee chair Chris McKnight about the rules. A total of 46 games across the NCAA were negated for violation of the policy.
