Baseball Operating Procedures

Red River Athletics Conference
Baseball Operating Procedures
July 1, 2025

I. Official Game Procedures

A. Rule Book: Official NCAA Rule book with NAIA Baseball Coaches Association modifications.

1.NAIA ejection policy is enforced at all times

B. Official Conference Game Ball: Rawlings FSR100NAIA

C. Pre-Game Schedule:

Each team will be provided a minimum of 30 minutes for batting practice, either on the field or in a cage area.
Each team will have a maximum of 10 minutes for on-field warm-up.

a. The pre-game timeline is determined by the home team, and shall be provided to the visiting team a minimum two (2) days prior to game.

b. Home team coach will contact visiting team coach on Monday the week of the RRAC series to discuss possible weather issues, approving or moving the series, BP times, etc. Both coaches will ensure that every effort is made to play the RRAC series within the series window.

D. Umpires: Umpires for all games (including the RRAC tournament) will be assigned by the RRAC Umpire Coordinator and Supervisor, Doug McClure. A minimum of two (2) umpires are needed to start a game, but the RRAC requires (3) umpires for regular season games. Schools have the option to add a third umpire at their discretion.

II. RRAC Regular Season Games

Every effort must be made by all RRAC head coaches to complete their three-game series every weekend and their 33-game RRAC schedule.

A. Conference Schedule: All RRAC institutions will compete in a 33-game schedule consisting of a three-game series against all the other members of the conference. Every team will alternate home and away year to year, as per the schedule made by the conference.

B. Conference Series: The conference series are three games consisting of one 7-inning game and two 9-inning games. The RRAC standard series format, days, and start time will be: one 9-inning game on Friday at 2 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 noon. All doubleheaders will start with the 7-inning game being played first and the 9-inning game second unless the first game goes into extra innings. In this case, the first game will turn into an extra inning game (game can be won in the 8th inning, it doesn't become an automatic 9-inning game). The second game will automatically become the 7-inning contest. These times can be changed by mutual agreement by both coaches prior to the start of the spring semester. NOTE: Any/all changes made concerning conference series date, day or times after January 1, 2022 must be approved by both head coaches, their respective athletic directors, the umpire coordinator/supervisor and the conference office.

Teams must complete 75% of their scheduled conference games to be eligible for postseason play.

C. Official Games: All games are considered official after 4 complete innings in a 7-inning game and 5 compete innings in a 9-inning game. No more than two games may be started in one day; however, a suspended game may be completed and two additional games may be started in one day.

D. 72-Hour Rule: The conference series must be played within a 72-hour window beginning no sooner than Thursday and finishing no later than Monday on your designated weekend of play. The window of play begins when any one of the following occur: a) the day after the visiting team departs from their campus; b) the day after the visiting team arrives at the home team’s city if they travel throughout the night; c) the first game begins. If a game is not played when originally scheduled, it needs to be rescheduled. If games are not played, winning percentage will be used to determine standings at the end of the season. If needed, teams will have the opportunity to switch home sites.

E. Schedule Changes: The home team coach must contact the visiting team coach on Monday, the week of the conference series to discuss possible: a) weather issues b) change in moving series dates up or back per the forecast; c) change in moving the site. Both coaches will ensure that every effort is made to play the RRAC series within the 72-hour series window.

F. Weather: If both coaches can reasonably agree and expect inclement weather, the opposing coach, by mutual agreement, can determine before the traveling team leaves whether to: 1) leave the series as a Friday-Saturday series with Sunday the make-up day; 2) play a Saturday-Sunday series with Monday the make-up day; or 3) play a Thursday-Friday series with Saturday the make-up day.

G. Doubleheaders: Every effort will be made to play the doubleheader on the first day of scheduled competition. If the doubleheader begins and is suspended due to weather or darkness; the game (7 or 9 inning) will be suspended and completed the following day. If the 7-inning game is completed and weather or darkness affects the 9-inning game, then that 9-inning game will be made up the following day as a 9-inning game (suspended or full) and followed by an additional 9-inning contest.

H. Time Frame for Three-Game Series: In all cases, teams have only three days (72 hours) to play the three-game series, after which the games cannot be made-up. NOTE: Teams may play outside the 72-hour window and/or play a fourth game, but those games will not count toward conference standings. If a fourth game is played in the series, the first three games will count towards the conference standings. In those three games, one 7-inning and two 9-inning games must be played. The fourth can be a 7 or 9 inning game as agreed upon by both coaches, but the final game of the series should never count towards the conference standings.

I. Required Number of Games: Teams must play 75% of their conference games to be eligible for postseason. If games are not played, winning percentage will be used to determine standings at the end of the season. If needed, teams will have the opportunity to switch home sites.

J. Forfeits

There will be no forfeits. All conference games must be played.
If needed, the teams can switch home sites.

Inclement Weather / Darkness

A. On the first day of conference series play, if inclement weather or darkness forces a suspended game, that game will be picked up at exact point on Day 2 (see III-E).

B. On the last day of conference series play and at least five innings are completed and one team is ahead it is a completed game. Four and half innings if home team is ahead. Stats will be counted and game is complete.

C. On the last day of conference series play and at least five innings are completed but inning is in progress, score will revert back to the last completed inning, unless home team is ahead (see III-A) – completed game. If after reverting back and score is tied. Will be recorded as tie and stats will be counted.

D. On the last day of conference series play and game has not progressed to five innings – cancelled game. No stats will be reported.

E. Suspended game interpretation: Game will be resumed at exact point of suspension. Line-ups and batting orders will remain the same. Game will be completed on next day of competition, if on last day see III

IV. RRAC Championships / Automatic Qualifier

A. The winner of the regular season will be declared the regular season conference champions based off winning percentage in conference games. They will receive the RRAC's first automatic qualifier for the NAIA Opening Round Tournament.

B. The winner of the conference championship tournament shall be recognized as the tournament champions and will be the second RRAC automatic qualifier for the NAIA Opening Round Tournament.

C. If the regular season champion wins the tournament, the tournament runner-up will receive the second automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round Tournament.

V. RRAC Championship Tournament

2024 Site Site: Sterlington Sports Complex, Sterlington, LA

Dates: May 2-5, 2024

A. The top eight (8) teams with the highest winning percentage determined from the RRAC standings will qualify for the RRAC Championship Tournament. The #1 seed will be determined by the team that finished with the highest winning percentage in conference play. The top eight (8) seeds will be listed in order of finish in the RRAC regular season conference standings.

B. In the event of a tie in the final standings, the order of finish will be determined by:

Head-to-head competition between the two teams in RRAC scheduled games.
Head to head against the top 4 teams with the highest winning percentage.
Highest winning percentage against common opponent.
Overall winning percentage.
Coin Flip by commissioner.

C. Three-Team Tie (or more). When three or more teams are tied, the following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken. If two teams remain tied after a tiebreaker provision, the two-team tiebreaker formula will be used.

Best winning percentage of games played among the tied teams in RRAC scheduled games. (Example: Team A is 3-1, Team B is 2-2, and Team C is 1-3, Team A would be seeded highest. Team B second highest and Team C the lowest of the three. A record of 2-0 is better than a record of 3-1, but a record of 2-0 is not better than 1-0.
Best winning percentage of the tied teams against the No 1 seed (and proceeding through the #7 seed if necessary).
Largest run differential in RRAC games. Run differential is determined by total runs scored in RRAC games minus total runs allowed in RRAC game.
Coin Flip by commissioner. If two teams remain, the tie will be broken by a coin flip by the Commissioner.

D. Tournament Format. The RRAC tournament will follow the standard eight-team double-elimination format with the first games being 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, and 4v5.

E. Automatic Qualifiers. The RRAC will receive two automatic qualifiers into the NAIA Baseball Opening Round. The qualifiers will be the regular season champion and the tournament champion. When the regular season champion also wins the tournament, the tournament runner-up will receive the second automatic berth.

F. RRAC tournament inclement weather protocol

1. If the tournament cannot be played at all, the tournament winner will be the #1 seed, and the runner-up will be the #2 seed.

2. If day one is started but cannot be completed by the tournament deadline of day 5, then rule V1-E.1 applies. Day one includes games 1, 2, and 3.

3. If day one can be completed, then the tournament winner will be the highest seeded team that is undefeated and the runner-up will be the highest seeded team remaining. (Games 1,2 & 3)

4. If day two is completed, then the winner for the tournament will be the highest seeded team that is undefeated and the runner-up will be the highest seeded team remaining. (Games 4, 5 & 6)

5. If day three is completed, then the winner for the tournament will be the highest seeded team that is undefeated and the runner-up will be the highest seeded team remaining. (Games 7, 8 & 9)

6. If five teams remain after game 6 and three teams after game 9, then the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament will be the winner and advance to the NAIA national tournament. The highest seeded team will be the tournament champions.

7. If only one day is available to play, the #1 seed and the #2 seed play one nine-inning game to decide the winner and both teams advance to the NAIA national tournament.

8. If the tournament has to be played on limited days, then the event will become a single-elimination format with the winner of game 1 receiving a bye in the second day, when the winner of games 2 and 3 play. The winner of games 2 and 3 will play the winner of game 1 for the tournament title and the loser of that game will then advance with the winner to the NAIA national tournament.

Note: Every effort will be made to play the games. The tournament director shoudl work with the host school to secure an alternate site if the host field becomes unfit for play. The alternate site should be in reasonable driving distance. Reasonable distance is defined as no more than 120 miles or two hours. Each team must be able to keep their same lodging.

9. All tournament games will be 9 innings. The 10-Run Rule will be implemented in tournament games 1-4 (first round and first elimination game). There is no run rule after game 4.

F. The site of the RRAC Tourney will be determined by a bid process, bids due by April 1 annually, and then a vote by the coaches as to provide a recommendation to the Athletic Directors to which they will give the final go ahead at their September meetings.

G. Criteria for hosting a RRAC Tournament include the following criteria. In order to host the:

Host must have lights.
Host must have a tarp.
Host must have adequate seating and restroom facilities
Host must have adequate pre-game area for batting practice.
Host must pay for cost of umpires (motels, per diem, etc.).
Host is recommended to provide a banquet or BBQ for qualifying teams.
Host must provide travel expenses, hotel and meals for neutral tournament director.

VI. RRAC All Conference Selections

1^st and 2^nd Team All-Conference positions selected are: (4) Pitchers, (4) Outfielders, (2) Catchers, (1) First Baseman, Second Baseman, Third Baseman, Shortstop, Designated Hitter, Utility, Relief Pitcher.
Head coaches will nominate and submit names of players from their team to the RRAC Sports Information Director by the Sunday before the conference tournament in the form provided by the conference.
The RRAC SID will review every nomination from each team and will organize a ballot of the top players from each position, to then be distributed to all RRAC coaches for final voting.
Through secret ballot, each head coach will vote for each position. Pitchers and Outfielders will from the rank all positions 1, 2, 3, etc…The RRAC SID will tally the votes by the coaches with the player receiving the most votes, in each position will be named as 1^st Team and the player that finishes second in each position will receive 2^nd Team honors.
Along with the secret ballot, each head coach will vote for their top three superlative winners for the following awards; Player and Pitcher of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
The RRAC SID will count all the votes and provide a list of the top vote-getters to the coaches for review at the coaches meeting prior to the RRAC tournament.
The coaches will discuss to see if any changes are merited and will notify the RRAC SID with the final all-conference list and award-winners.
Players will be chosen by position as stated by the NAIA Baseball Policy Manual
Awards include: All Conference 1^st Team, All Conference 2^nd Team, Conference MVP, Conference MVP Pitcher, Gold Glove Team, and Champions of Character Team.
The RRAC Coach of the Year award will be a vote between the RRAC Regular Season Champion and the RRAC Tournament Champion. All RRAC Coaches are to vote. An email, or text, ballot will be sent out by the Conference Chair, each coach will be given 24 hours to respond.
In the case of a tie in the voting for RRAC Coach of the Year or RRAC Player of the Year, the conference will recognize co-winners. However, to determine which Coach of the Year or Player of the Year selection will be submitted to the NAIA for All-America consideration, the RRAC Sports Information Director will be the deciding vote.

VII. Ratings and Rankings

RRAC National Rater Committee: Steve Appel - Southwest
RRAC Conference Rating System will be compiled by national rater and in-turn submitted to the NAIA. Teams submitted to the NAIA are those the national rater feels are deserving of National Ranking.

For further information on specific items see the NAIA Coaches Manual:

http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205327101

VIII. Sportsmanship Policy

Inappropriate acts by Administrators, Coaches or Players before, during and following athletic contests shall be handled by the Commissioner using the following guidelines, until the matter is resolved.

1. An informal phone call from the Commissioner shall be made to the coach and administrator requesting correction or attention to the matter.

2. A formal letter from the Commissioner to the coach, administrator and/or athlete, detailing examples and requesting correction or attention to the matter. This letter will be copied to the offending party’s supervisor and the President of the offending party’s institution.

3. Inappropriate acts by Administrators, Coaches or Players before, during and following athletic contests that are deemed to be conclusive following a review by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Council of Presidents, will result in an automatic one game suspension for next athletic contest for the offending individual.

4. A second inappropriate act by Administrators, Coaches or Players before, during and following athletic contests subsequent to the first offense that are deemed to be conclusive following a review by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Council of Presidents, will result in an automatic two game suspension for the next two athletic contests for the offending individual.

5. Ineligibility for the remainder of all regular season and post season participation will result for the offending individual if that Administrator, Coach or Player accumulates a third inappropriate act before, during and following athletic contests in a single season that are deemed to be conclusive following a review by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Council of Presidents.

There is no appeal for an ejection. Suspensions may be appealed. This appeal may be sent to the Commissioner’s Office for review. The appeal will follow the bylaws and the constitution process.

IX. Leadership

Chair -- Steve Appel (Southwest)
Rater -- Brad Neffendorf (LSU Shreveport)
Oversight Committee -- Kody Gautreaux (LSUA), Mike Byrnes (Louisiana Christian), Steve Jones (Texas A&M-Texarkana)
AD Representatives -- Lucas Mogan (LSU Shreveport), Ashley Walyuchow (Houston-Victoria)

X. Championship Host Hotels

For 2024-25, when host schools have agreements with hotels and rooms are part of the commitment for RRAC championship events, teams that qualify for those events are required to stay at the hotels designated by the host.

XI. Bat Testing

Every institution is required to purchase bat testing equipment. If a visiting team arrives and the home team does not have working equipment and they were not notified prior to leaving, the game is a forfeit. To prevent this, we agreed that the visiting team would bring their bat tester with them. Every RRAC baseball team is required to have a bat tester and to have bats tested.
We should check bats during the 40 minutes that are allotted for batting practice prior to each game. All bats that will be used in the game will be tested. No other bats will be used after inspections of bats.
Bats should be checked by a member of the Home Team Administration, i.e. SID, Trainer, AD, Assistant AD, etc. The bats must be checked with a legal bat tester approved by the NAIA rules. If home team has a bat tester that does not work, we will use visiting teams. Bats can be checked at locations selected by the Home Team. Each team can have a Head or Asst. Coach to be available while bats are being tested to review and answer questions.
All bats that meet the requirement after testing will have a label placed on the bat. Each team will have a color label for their school placed on the bat. The Head Coach will let the Umpire know what their color is and the location on the bat to see it.
If games are played on a neutral site, the above will apply.
If a bat is found to be illegal, it will be removed and placed away from the dugout.
Bat testing will be done prior to game one of a multiple game series. Post season tournament, bats will be checked once prior to the tournament.
If a team suspects a bat is illegal, they shall bring this to the attention of the umpires. If determined that bat is illegal the procedure is covered in Rule 1-12, PENALTY.

A bat that has been flattened or altered to improve performance is an illegal bat. If such an illegal bat is detected before the first pitch, the batter shall be called out and the bat shall be removed from the game. If an illegal bat is detected after first pitch, legal or illegal, the batter shall be declared out, and base runners shall not advance as a result of a batted ball. The bat shall be removed from the contest.

New bat labels will be used prior to a new series of games and the same procedure to check bats will be used in accordance with NAIA and Conference requirements.

NCAA/NAIA Bat Testing Process:
1. Visual Inspection of the Bat

- Ensure that the bat model appears on the approved bat list (LINK)

- Ensure the bat does not have a predominantly white barrel.

- Ensure the bat does not have flat sports.

- Ensure the bat does not have audible rattle.

- Ensure the bat does not have cracked or loose knob or end camps and attachments. (By NCAA rule, attachments are not permitted on the end cap or knob of the baseball bat.)

Ring Test

- Place the bat end cap on the ground and place the bat ring over the knob letting it fall.

- If the ring passes over the bat from gravity alone (without force), the diameter passes.

- If the bat passes through the ring, it proceeds to barrel compression testing.

- If the ring does not pass over the bat, the bat is unacceptable for play and is surrendered for the duration of the game/series.

Barrel Compression Test Procedure

- Calibrate fixture – It is important to check the calibration of the bat testing fixture before testing occurs. To check the calibration of the device, insert the calibration cylinder (provided with the tester) just as you would a bat. Be sure to center the cylinder under the anvil. Turn the gauge until it reads “0 lbs.” and pulls the cam level. The compression should meet the tolerance engraved on the cylinder. If the device is not calibrated, contact the LV Sports customer service line with any questions.

- Barrel compression test.

- Each bat will be tested approximately six (6) inches from the end of the barrel. The bat will then be rotated 90 degrees and tested again.

- Bats will be tested a maximum of three times, until it receives two passing results or two failing results, whichever comes first.

- If after tests:

a. The bat has two passing results, the bat will be considered approved for competition.

b. The bat has one passing result and one failing result, the bat will be removed from the machine and be visually inspected for cracks. If no cracks are found, the bat will be tested a third time for a result.

c. The bat has two failing results, the bat will be considered unacceptable for play and is surrendered for the duration of the game/series.

- Bats passing both tests shall be identified as approved with the opposing team’s or tournament/event or conference’s tamper proof sticker at the taper, the area at the bottom of the barrel, just above the handle.

Bats Exempt from Barrel Compression Testing

- Mizuno Maxcor: The Mizuno Maxcor model is exempt from compression testing.

Lowest Passing Barrel Compression Results

- Metal bats: 1250 lbs.

- Composite bats: 1000 lbs.

- Non-linear*: 800 lbs.

* The Rawlings Quatro and Rawlings Quatro Pro models are currently the only BBCOR non-linear bat.

Maximum Barrel Compression Results

- There is no maximum compression for metal and composite BBCOR baseball bats.

Approved and Prohibited Bats

1. A list of approved bats. However, if the bat has a white barrel that makes it illegal. http://www.mme.wsu-ssl.org/certifiedbaseballbats.aspx

2. Latest list of prohibited bats - http://naiabb.arbitersports.com/Groups/109475/Library/files/Dec2019PRMBA_BatColorCompliance.pdf

3. Decertification of Louisville Metal bat - http://naiabb.arbitersports.com/Groups/109475/Library/files/Feb2020_PRMBA_Louisville_Slugger_Meta_Decertification_Memo_02212020.pdf

All this information is posted on the NAIA Baseball Hub under NCAA BATS and anyone may view it. http://naiabb.arbitersports.com/front/109475/Site

Bat Testing Equipment

https://www.barrelcompression.com/bat-testers

Baseball Bat Testing Video
Bat Labels
1. Order at grady.k@mavericklabel.com using TONYSTIG BAT LABELS as the quote number for reference. He can be contacted at 425-967-4234 or online.
2. All labels will be of only one color and not multi-colored.
3. Labels from each school will be placed on the opponents’ bats after testing.
4. We can put school name on label.