SEC baseball games could be ending earlier this year. The SEC is implementing a mercy rule for the conference play portion of the 2023 college baseball season.

Arkansas reporter Andrew Hutchinson shares that if a team is up by 10 or more runs after 7 innings, the game will be over. Previously, the SEC has had mercy rules in place for the conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama, but not regular-season play.

SEC teams will begin the 2023 college baseball season on Feb. 17. Conference play begins on March 16 with Ole Miss at Vanderbilt and Alabama at Florida. March 17 features a full slate of 7 games between the 14 conference teams.

D1Baseball ranks 7 SEC teams in the preseason top 10 heading into 2023:

  • No. 1 LSU
  • No. 2 Tennessee
  • No. 4 Ole Miss
  • No. 5 Texas A&M
  • No. 7 Florida
  • No. 8 Arkansas
  • No. 10 Vanderbilt

Ole Miss enters 2023 as the defending national champion after the Rebels won their first College World Series title. Tennessee swept the SEC’s regular-season and tournament titles in 2022.