Hey Kentucky - Are we going to have games?

quote:

---

Regular Season Competition/Inclement Weather. [Revised: 10/5/23]
A. Friday through Sunday Series
1. Game Times
A. The home team shall establish the starting time for all games, unless dictated by television. Friday
games shall start no earlier than 6 p.m. local time, unless approved by the Conference office. Sunday
games shall start no later than 2 p.m. local time unless dictated by television.
B. If the visiting team is utilizing air travel and has a set departure time, a Sunday game shall start no later
than 1 p.m. local time unless dictated by television.

2. General Guidelines.
A. Each game shall be scheduled for nine innings and shall be played to at least nine innings unless dictated
by inclement weather, visiting team departure constraints, or the ten-run rule.
B. If a game is postponed on Friday or Saturday due to inclement weather, the game shall be completed
from the point of interruption on the following day prior to the regularly scheduled game.
C. A team may not stay over to Monday to start or complete a Conference game or series, except on the
final weekend of the regular season, if necessary.
D. Institutions shall utilize best efforts to ensure every scheduled contest is played to its conclusion.
E. The home institution’s Athletics Director (or his/her designee) shall have the authority to determine
whether a contest should, prior to its start, be temporarily delayed until a later time on the same date or
another time on another date within the scheduled series. Once a contest has started, the decision to
suspend play is the responsibility of the umpires.
F. The authority to cancel a contest is vested only with the Commissioner (or his/her designee)

3. Televised Games Affected by Weather
A. If a game is postponed on Friday, and the regularly scheduled Saturday game is televised on a linear
network, institutions must use their best efforts to start the regularly scheduled televised Saturday game
at its published start time. (The postponed game should be scheduled at a time which provides the
regularly scheduled televised game a reasonable chance of starting at its published time.) If a postponed
game is resumed/started prior to the start of the regularly scheduled televised game, the postponed game
must be completed without interruption.
B. If a game is postponed on Saturday, and the regularly scheduled Sunday game is televised on a linear
network, institutions must use their best efforts to start the regularly scheduled televised Sunday game
at its published start time. (The postponed game should be scheduled at a time which provides the
regularly scheduled televised game a reasonable chance of starting at its published time.) If a postponed
game is resumed/started prior to the start of the regularly scheduled televised game, the postponed game
must be completed without interruption.
C. A postponed or regularly scheduled game may begin or end on the SEC Network Alternate Channel or
on SEC Network+.

4. Length of Games
A. All games played on Friday and Saturday shall be scheduled for nine innings. If a postponed game is
resumed on Sunday, the regularly scheduled game shall be seven innings.
B. If weather prevents playing both the Friday and Saturday games, or if the Saturday game does not begin
because of rain, there shall be two seven-inning games on Sunday. If a Friday game is postponed and
no games are played on Saturday, the postponed game shall be resumed on Sunday, followed by a seveninning game.
C. If a postponed game is unable to be completed because of inclement weather and has reached official game status (five innings or more per NCAA Rule 5.8), it shall be declared a game.

5. Restart Times
A. In the event of rain on Friday or Saturday, no game may start after 10:00 p.m. local time or resume after
midnight local time.
B. In the event of a rain-delay prior to the beginning of play on Sunday, the game must begin at least two
hours and thirty minutes prior to the visiting team’s scheduled departure time from the field (if
necessary), otherwise, no game may start after 10:00 p.m. local time or resume after midnight local time.
No games will be continued to Monday. [Revised: 10/10/19, Revised: 11/2/22, Revised: 10/5/23]

6. Travel Considerations/Departure Times
A. A visiting team traveling via commercial flight shall make arrangements to travel on the last scheduled
flight on the last day of a series. Prior to the start of each series, the visiting team shall notify the home
team of any anticipated departure time issues.
B. In all instances, departure time takes priority. A team may not stay over until Monday to begin or
complete a game or series.
C. If a contest is called due to travel arrangements, the following procedures shall apply
a. No inning shall start with less than 60-minutes remaining until the designated departure time.
[Revised: 4/18/23]
b. If the contest is called and is a regulation game according to NCAA Rules, including if the game is
a regulation tie, the contest and all statistics shall count in the final record.
c. If the contest is called prior to reaching regulation status under NCAA Rules, the game shall be
considered “No Game”.

7. Authority to Play Doubleheaders
A. Approval of a prospective Saturday doubleheader shall be limited to circumstances where there is a high
likelihood that weather will not permit a game to be played on Sunday. [Revised: 10/10/19]
B. Approval of a prospective Friday doubleheader will be granted by the Conference Office only if there is
a chance of rain of 80 percent or higher according to weather.gov for both Saturday and Sunday as of no
earlier than 5 p.m. local time on Thursday and it is agreed upon by both head coaches. (This is not
applicable to Thursday through Saturday series.) [Adopted: 10/10/19]
C. Doubleheaders on Friday or Saturday shall be scheduled as two, nine inning games. Doubleheaders on
Sunday shall be scheduled as two seven inning games.

---