NCAA 5-9 Halted Game

Halted Game

SECTION 9.     a. A game that has been stopped at any time after its start because of inclement weather, darkness, light failure or curfew may be continued by mutual agreement reached before the start of the contest by the competing institutions, or according to conference or tournament policy, to a predetermined point of completion. Any such game must meet the conditions of Rule 5-8 to be considered a regulation game. A halted game is for special conditions and is not intended to supersede the conditions of a regulation game.

b. A halted game must resume play at exactly the point of being halted, with the lineups and batting orders of both teams exactly the same, subject to the rules of substitution; any player (or pitcher) who played, or was announced as a substitute before the game was halted, must be in the lineup when play resumes or be ineligible for the remainder of the game.

c. The Halted-Game Procedure also may be used in nonconference games, but this agreement clearly should be understood and mutually be agreed upon by the coaches and directors of athletics of the competing institutions before the start of the contest. When the Halted-Game Procedure is agreed upon prior to the start of a nonconference contest and the contest cannot be finished; the unfinished game becomes “no contest” if the game has not met the conditions of a regulation game.

d. If a league, conference or tournament committee wishes not to be bound by the tie-game rule and wishes to complete a regulation tie game from the point at which the game was halted, it may do so by stating same when formally opting to use the halted-game rule. Otherwise, a game stopped with the score tied is considered a tie game, not a halted game.

e. When a halted game is part of a doubleheader, it shall be the first game, and the second game shall be the regularly scheduled game for that date; if a doubleheader is scheduled, it shall be the first game of three games.