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What is a double first base? SEC Baseball Tournament to experiment with new rule in Hoover

austin curtright, nashville tennessean
·3 min read

The SEC will experiment with a new rule for the league's postseason baseball tournament this week in Hoover, Alabama.

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium will feature two bases at first base, with one in foul territory connected to the regular first base. The hope is that the new rule, which allows runners to step on the outside base when running to first base, will reduce collisions and, therefore, injuries.

The double bases were not used in SEC conference play this season, but were used in numerous SEC non-conference games.

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Here's everything to know about the double bases, including how they work and why the SEC is trying them out:

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What is a double first base?

A double first base is when two bases are connected side by side — however, the one on the right side is in foul territory.

The double first base intends to reduce collisions on bang-bang plays at first base, as the first baseman can complete an out by stepping on the regular bag, while runners are able to step on the outside bag to give themselves more room in hopes of avoiding contact with the fielder.

The second bag that's in foul territory will be orange or green, according to the SEC, while the bag in fair territory is white.

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Double first base rules

Below are the rules surrounding the double base for the SEC Tournament, as stipulated by the NCAA (via the SEC news release):

Fair vs. foul balls

  • A batted ball hitting or bounding over the white portion of the bag is a fair ball. A batted ball hitting or bounding over the colored (orange or green) bag without first touching or bounding over the white section is foul.

Plays at first base

  • When an initial play is being made on the batter-runner at first base, the defense must use the white section of the double base and the batter-runner must use the colored base except in the case of a dropped third strike. After a dropped third strike, if the fielder is drawn to the side of the colored base, the runner would go the white base and the fielder to the colored base. On a dropped third strike, the fielder and batter-runner may touch either the white or colored base.

  • If there is a play on the batter-runner and the batter-runner touches only the white portion of the double base and the defense appeals prior to the batter-runner returning to first base, it is treated the same as missing the base. Penalty: Batter-runner is out.

Base running

  • On extra-base hits or other balls hit to the outfield when there is no chance for a play to be made at the double base, the batter-runner may touch either the white or colored section of the base. Should, however, the batter-runner reach and go beyond first base, they may only return to the white section of the base.

  • Once the batter-runner reaches first base, they shall then use only the white base.

Who uses double first base?

The double first base is allowed in both college softball and baseball. However, both sports consider the rule to be on an experimental basis.

The double first base is popular in amateur versions of both diamond sports, and is adopted by USA Softball.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What is a double first base? SEC Tournament experimenting with new rule