Florida State baseball won by 20 in super regionals. Is there a mercy rule in NCAA tournament? (2024)

There is, by rule, no mercy in postseason college baseball.

Despite the SEC adding a 10-run rule ahead of the 2023 college baseball season and other conferences, including the ACC, following the lead during the 2024 season, there will be no run rule in place for the2024 NCAA Baseball Tournamentand theCollege World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

That means Game 1 of the Tallahassee Super Regional between Florida State and UConn will play all nine innings despite FSU jumping out to a 9-1 lead in the fifth. Marco Dinges and Jaime Ferrer hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning with Max Williams following suit in the second. Ferrer hit another in the sixth as part of a six-run inning that would have met the 10-run rule requirement ... if it were in play.

Updates from super regionals: Florida State baseball vs UConn in Game 2 of NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional

Florida State ended up winning 24-4. The 24 runs are an NCAA super regional record, according to ESPN, but the game played on.

Starting this season, ACC games — and other NCAA games in which coaches reach an agreement before a game — in which one team leads another by 10 runs or more following the seventh inning can be called due to the run rule. The rule is similar to the eight-run rule in college softball after five innings.

FSU-UConn kicked off the Super Regionals, and the College World Series is slated to start on Friday, June 14, from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

Here's what you need to know about the run rule and if it applies in the NCAA Baseball Tournament and CWS:

College baseball 10-run rule, explained

Each conferencehas its own rules, but according to Section 79 of the2023-2024 NCAA Baseball Rules Book,there is no set NCAA run rule to end a game early.

"SECTION 79.By conference rule, or mutual consent of both coaches before the contest, a game may be stopped only after seven innings if one team is ahead by at least 10 runs.

"Each team must play an equal number of innings unless shortened because the home team needs none or only part of its half of the final inning."

The North Carolina team site lays out the ACC's run rule that went into play in 2024: "A 10-run rule will be in effect after the seventh inning of all ACC games. The rule stipulates that the game shall be stopped after seven innings if one team is ahead by at least 10 runs run in accordance with NCAA playing rules."

A recent example of the run rule not applying for the College World Series was last year's matchup between LSU and Florida in the best-of-three-game series. The Tigers opened the series with a 4-3 extra-inning victory. The Gators responded with a 24-4 win in a game in which they led 15-3 after seven innings and by as much as 21 runs in the ninth inning.

In the Game 3 winner-take-all game, the Tigers led 14-4 after eight innings and ended up winning 18-4 to win their program's seventh national championship. No other games in Omaha met the requirements of a potential 10-run rule.

In 2009, FSU pounded Ohio State 37-6 in the Tallahassee Regional.

As they say, though, it ain't over till it's over. In the 2023 super regionals, Oregon trailed Oral Roberts by eight runs in the third inning only to come back and walk off with a 9-8 win.

Tallahassee Democrat sports editor Jim Henry contributed to this report.