Pitch clocks will not be coming to NCAA Division I baseball games in 2016.
The NCAA Baseball Rules Committee on Monday withdrew an experimental rules proposal that would have created a 20-second pitch clock with runners on base for the 2016 season.
On Aug. 26, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel referred the proposal back to the Baseball Rules Committee to determine how many conferences intended to implement the experimental rule next spring.
The feedback gathered from 25 Division I conferences showed there was little support by any leagues to use the rule next season. The Division I Baseball Committee had previously expressed a desire to implement the rule in all rounds of the 2016 Division I Baseball Championship, but that will not occur since the proposal was withdrawn.
The rationale for possible use of a 20-second pitch clock was to increase the pace of play and reduce the length of games in the Division I postseason.
In the last four years of the Men’s College World Series, the average length of nine-inning games has increased from two hours, 53 minutes in 2012 to three hours, 19 minutes in 2015. Last year also saw an uptick in average game times in regionals and super regionals.
