Does college baseball play in the rain? Exploring playing rules on the diamond

Rain has been the bane of college baseball for several years. It has forced quite a few games to be delayed or called off, sometimes leaving teams with a lot of work to do with fewer games to achieve their season targets. Let's take a look at the NCAA 2023 and 2024 Baseball Rules Book to understand how games affected by inclement weather are dealt with.

What does the rule book say about college baseball playing through rain?

Light to moderate rain rarely stops a college baseball game. However, heavy rain, which can make the field unplayable, will disrupt the game. Depending on the conditions, it may either be delayed for a period or postponed to another date that suits both teams.

Rule 4, Section 2 (4-2-3) of the Rules Book pertains to the fitness of the field. Part B of this section details what happens if bad weather, like rain, or unfit conditions, comes about in the middle of a game:

"Should bad weather or unfit conditions prevail during a game, the umpire in-chief may consult with the game administrator to determine suspension, resumption or termination of play. In the case of lightning, the game administrator and umpire-in-chief shall follow lightning guidelines in the appendix section."

Rule 5, Section 8 details how a rain-affected college baseball game, either through a delay or being called off, will be considered a regulation game:

"It is a regulation game if it is called by the umpire for any cause that puts patrons or players in peril such as for darkness, inclement weather, a facility problem or crowd behavior, provided the conditions in 5-8-b have been met. If a game is delayed due to inclement weather, a facility problem, etc., a reasonable amount of time (not less than 30 minutes) must elapse before the game is called."

This year's College World Series saw games reshuffled due to a storm threat over Omaha. It forced the Florida Gators' second elimination game against the Kentucky Wildcats to be postponed from June 17th to June 19th.

This meant that the winner of that game had to play twice on June 19th. After trouncing the Wildcats in the 2 pm ET game, the Gators went scoreless against the Texas A&M Aggies in the 7:30 pm ET game, leading to their elimination from the tournament.