One of the story lines in college baseball this year has been the impact of the new bats on what was once unquestionably a hitter’s game. We could get into a long, scientific discussion of how the NCAA tried to take some of the juice out of the aluminum bats used by the sport, but I don’t understand that and it would bore many of you to tears. Suffice it to say that the goal was to drive down sometimes-ridiculous run totals.
The Slow Death Of ‘Gorilla Ball’ Continues At NCAA Tournament
So how would this play on the first day of the NCAA baseball tournament?
Well, on the first day of 2010, the average score in the 32 games was about 9.5 to about 3.8, for a total of 13.3 runs scored per game. As of this writing, with 26 of the first-day games in 2011 in the books, the average score is about 6.9 to about 2.2, or 9.2 (rounding) runs scored per game. Last year, four teams got shut out all day long; with a handful of games still playing, six teams have already been blanked Friday, and four more have yet to score a run in the first four innings of their games.
Obviously, all the usual caveats about sample size and other factors playing a role apply. But it seems like the NCAA tournament is going to be like the regular season in, at least when it comes to the lower emphasis on offense. Gorilla ball might no longer be enough.
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