Note--Except in the case of emergencies or approval by the conference office, changes to sport regulations by sport committees must be proposed no later than 30 days prior to in-person conference meetings, and approved by the Advisory Board meeting held prior to the start of each subsequent season--May meetings for Fall sports, October meetings for Winter sports, January meetings for Spring sports. (Updated May 2022)
SECTION 1.0 PLAYING SEASON AND SCHEDULING
1.1 All member institutions shall observe the NCAA starting date for pre-season practice regardless of geographic location. No geographic exceptions are allowed.
1.2 Each team shall play scheduled teams in a four game series consisting of 9 innings/7 innings double headers over two days, allowing for flexibility of playing over three days if both ADs agree. (Updated May 2022)
1.2.1 Schedules shall be proposed by the conference office and approved by the athletic directors; the schedule shall include the designated number of conference games, and may include non-conference games against conference opponents. Teams may opt out of non-conference games against conference opponents with written agreement between the teams involved and written approval by the Commissioner (i.e. schedule change approval).
1.2.2 Make-up games are scheduled per mutual consent of the involved institutions' coaches and athletics directors with written approval by the Commissioner. Teams shall make best efforts to make-up games (based on travel, geography, cost parameters, etc.)
1.2.3 Weekend getaway times may be agreed upon between institutions with approval from the Commissioner. Weekend getaway dates are defined as the final game of a road series outside the pod (or geographical region, i.e. Hawai'i, NorCal/San Francisco Bay area, Southern California). Requesting weekend getaway times is the responsibility of the visiting school and must be made by July 1 for fall sports, September 1 for winter sports, and December 1 for spring sports. Weekend getaway dates must be accommodated by the home school, as long as the visiting team is making a flight (or departing) that same day/night. A request may be denied by the Home school if they have multiple home events scheduled on that same date. (Updated May 2013, revised May 2014, May 2022)
Times for such weekend getaway dates shall be mutually agreed upon between schools in writing with written approval by the Commissioner. Weekend getaway dates are Saturday or Sunday, and federal holidays that fall on Mondays (Updated June 2011). The final home game of the season (traditionally known as Senior Night) is exempt from the Weekend Getaway Date Rule. (Updated February 2011)
1.2.4 In-pod teams that are scheduled to play four contests at one site against an in-pod rival may agree to split the series and play the series with two home contests and two away contests. (Added May 2024)
1.3 All PacWest teams must schedule conference games prior to making commitments to non-conference teams for dates, allowing accommodations for spring break to make travel easier for both Mainland and Hawai'i schools.
1.3.1 Agreements for conference contests shall be initiated by the athletic representative of the host institution to the visiting institution for approval no later than 30-days prior to the official start of the NCAA season. (Agreements may be contracts or other forms of written confirmation.) (Updated June 2013)
1.4 All PacWest institutions shall notify the conference office of the dates of their spring break as soon as that information has been made available.
1.5 The maximum number of games permitted in a single season shall not exceed NCAA regulations.
1.6 Contests shall be scheduled in accordance with the regulations as they appear in Article 17 of the Bylaws of the NCAA.
1.7 Conference members shall complete their conference-scheduled contests as assigned yearly by the Conference office. No Conference game shall be scheduled after the date designated as the NCAA Championships Selection Date..
1.8 The maximum number of conference games that may be played on the same calendar day is two, unless the third game is the completion of a halted game. (Updated May 2022)
1.9 Game times are agreed upon between the two institutions and shall be communicated in writing to all conference opponents and the conference office at least thirty days prior to the start of the conference season. Game site and time changes due to inclement weather require mutual verbal agreement from each institution's director of athletics or designee and must be submitted to the PacWest Commissioner. Host schools can adjust starting times for safety purposes as needed.
1.10 Make-Up Policy
1.10.1 The intent of the PacWest baseball make-up policy is that all games affecting the PacWest championship and the awarding of the automatic berth or an at-large berth for the NCAA Championships shall be played, if possible.
1.10.2 If a game is postponed by weather or other appropriate reasons, best effort shall be made by the two opposing teams to make-up the contests, including consulting with Athletic Directors of the affected schools, as well as the conference office, to determine if make-up is possible.
1.10.3 The host institution is responsible for determining when a field is playable. Once a game has started, the umpires are responsible for determining when and if a game should be postponed/canceled. The visiting team has an obligation to stay a reasonable length of time to play on that day.
1.10.4 The conference shall use the Halted Game rule in all conference games, with the exception of the getaway game, if the the two teams are located more than 200 miles apart. In the case of the getaway game (defined as the final game of a four game conference series), a contest may be considered "official" when it reaches at least five innings (four and a half innings if the home team is leading) if the game is terminated early due to inclement weather, darkness, light failure, curfew, or other issues agreed upon between the two competing schools and approved in writing by the Commissioner. If scheduling partners are located less than 200 miles apart, the Halted Game rule is still in effect for the getaway game and the halted contest must be completed prior to the conclusion of the regular conference season (with schedule change request for innings to be completed filed with conference office and written approval of both schools and the Commissioner). (Updated May 2014)
SECTION 2.0 GAME MANAGEMENT/CONDITIONS OF COMPETITION
2.1 The host team will provide adequate equipment and supplies at the game site, including the following:
2.1.1 Game Balls
2.1.2 Drinking water and cups
2.1.3 Restroom facilities
2.1.4 Bench towels.
2.2 The host team shall provide an athletic trainer at least one and one-half hours prior to game time either at the game site or in the athletic training room. An athletic trainer must be in attendance during, between and after the completion of final game. Athletic training room should be open for a reasonable period following the game(s).
2.3 Host institutions must provide a drying agent on site to minimize the effects of rain (e.g. tarp or diamond drying substance). The Host institution must also make all reasonable efforts to maintain playable field conditions.
2.4 Administrator in Charge - The Host School Administrator in Charge should be available at all times throughout the event and should not be a coach involved in the game. The administrator in charge shall be on site throughout the competition and must introduce themselves to the opposing coach and/or opposing administrator prior to the contest. (Updated May 2022)
2.5 Host institution shall report all instances of misconduct and unsportsmanlike behavior in any PacWest athletic contests to the Commissioner. All ejections resulting from unsportsmanlike conduct are to be reported to the Pac West Commissioner in writing by host personnel immediately following the contest.
2.6 The host team shall provide a well-trained and knowledgeable official scorer for each contest. The official scorer shall be the final authority for all scoring decisions made during the course of the game. Under no circumstances shall the official scorer be permitted to keep score in either the host or visiting team's dugout.
2.7 Pre-game information, including parking, appropriate entry into the facility, practice times, etc. shall be communicated in writing to the coach and any appropriate administrators of the visiting team prior to the game. It is host responsibility to provide adequate parking for teams and officials, i.e. coned off spaces for vans, charter, etc.
2.7.1 The host institution must provide a reserved parking space or a parking pass for an easily accessible and safe area to all assigned officials and the visiting team’s travel party. (Updated January 2025)
2.8 All rules utilized for NCAA Championship play shall be utilized in all PacWest games, including dugout decorum. The host institution shall insure that the officials enforce the NCAA and PacWest regulations.
2.9 Rosters shall be exchanged by head coaches no later than the pre-game meeting prior to each single game and prior to the first game of a doubleheader. The roster must include the name and uniform number of each of the players. The only exception to a roster change would be due to an injury.
2.10 There will be a thirty-minute intermission between games of a doubleheader.
2.11 Site available for practice: Batting practice for the visiting team shall be at minimum 30 minutes in length. Home team will have batting practice at there own discretion prior to the visitors hitting time. If inclement weather does not provide for on field batting practice, visiting team must be permitted to use any hitting facilities that the home team has access to for the allotted 30 minutes. Each team will have a maximum of 10 minutes infield practice, with a minimum of 10 minutes for field preparation.
2.12 If the visiting team is traveling on the final day of the series, an agreement may be made between head coaches to determine when a final inning may start no later than. The agreement of the set time must be made prior to the start of the final game
2.13 The host team shall be the "home" team for both games of a doubleheader.
2.14 Jersey Color – Light jerseys will be worn by the home team and dark jerseys will be worn by the visiting team. Upon mutual agreement between head coaches, jersey protocol may be changed to accommodate visiting teams.
2.15 The host institution athletic trainer shall provide ice and water for both teams in their dugouts no later than the start of batting practice. Each site should provide opponent, with equal opportunity to the field (practice mounds, screens, dugouts, etc.). Restrooms should be accessible at all sites for teams and fans.
2.16 The host institution shall provide, if requested, a locker room (including a lavatory), shower facilities, and towels for the visiting teams on a final game day of a PacWest series. The visiting teams are responsible for requesting shower access at least 48 hours before arrival at the game site.
2.17 The ten-run rule after seven innings shall apply to all conference games. (Updated May 2022)
2.18 Bat specifications must follow NCAA guidelines.
2.19 The NCAA fight rule shall be observe d.
2.20 The conference members will not offer complimentary tickets. The conference will issue passes for admission to any conference contest to coaches, assistant coaches and athletic and university administrators.
SECTION 3.0 CHAMPIONSHIPS
3.1 All member institutions fielding teams in baseball shall agree to participate for the championship.
3.2 The Conference regular season Champion shall be the team with the best winning percentage as played in the approved conference schedule. Teams in contention for the conference baseball championships must complete at least 75 percent of their conference contests to qualify for the regular season title and the conference championship tournament. All conference teams, including schools in the NCAA DII Membership process, are in contention for the Conference Regular Season Championship. (Updated October 2022.)
3.3 In the case of a tie for first place in the conference regular season standings, all teams tied for first place shall be declared Co-Champions. (Updated May 2016).
3.4 Conference baseball tiebreaker guidelines are utilized to determine which teams qualify for the conference baseball tournament championships and in which seeding order. Tiebreaker criteria for qualification to the conference baseball tournament championships (or other times a tiebreaker is necessary), are as follows: (Updated October 2022):
- Head-to-head results in conference play *
- Record versus conference teams in descending order **
- Overall winning percentage against all DII competition.
- Coin-flip supervised by Commissioner
* Head-to-head results based on winning percentage. In the event of a multiple-team tie, each team’s record against the other teams involved in the tie will be compiled and winning percentage determined. The team with the highest winning percentage will be chosen. Teams involved do not have to have played each other the same number of times.
** The final conference record of each opponent will be combined to produce an opponent's winning percentage. Opponents a team played twice will be included twice in the calculation.
*** Records for each tied team against opponents all teams have played an equal number of times will be combined to produce a common opponent winning percentage.
3.5 Only NCAA Active teams may participate in the conference baseball tournament championships; a school currently in the NCAA DII Membership process may not qualify for the conference baseball tournament champonships; a non-qualifying school's spot is taken by the next Active member in the conference regular season standings. (Updated October 2022)
3.6 The winner of the conference baseball tournament championships shall be declared the PacWest Tournament Champion and shall earn the conference's Automatic Qualifier in the NCAA tournament. (If an AQ Replacement Team is necessary, then the Replacement Team shall be the runner-up in the conference tournament, but if the regular season champion does not win the conference tournament, then the conference regular season champion shall be designated as the AQ Replacement Team). (Updated October 2022)
SECTION 4.0 EQUIPMENT
4.1 The official ball used for all conference games shall be the official ball of NCAA Championships. (Updated May 2022)
SECTION 5.0 OFFICIALS
5.1 Three umpires shall be assigned to all Conference games. An exception may be granted by the Commissioner (or his/her designee) under emergency or extraordinary cicumstances to allow for two umpires to be utilized. (Updated October 2022)
5.2 All umpires shall be NCAA Certified.
5.3 If a game has been rained out and umpires have traveled to the site of the game, umpires shall be paid one half of their scheduled fee for one game, plus their appropriate travel fee (if it applies). If the first game begins, umpires will be paid the full fee. If the second game of the scheduled doubleheader has begun, umpires will also be paid for the second game.
5.4. Umpires may not utilize video replay to make in-game rulings. (Updated May 2016)
5.5 Finalized schedules including non-conference matches shall be submitted to the Officials Assignor(s) and Conference Office not later than October 1 prior to the season. (January 2025)
5.6 Conference member institutions are responsible for the payment of all officials assigned to their home regular season contests unless an alternative agreement regarding officials’ payment has been made with the Conference Office or the opposing institution in advance of the contest. Official fees are designated by the Conference Office and payment to the official must be issued within 30 days of the date of the contest they officiated via the designated platform. The payment platform designated by the Conference Office (e.g., RefQuest) should be used by the institution to issue payment to officials. Prior to the start of each sports season, a member of each institution’s staff should be designated as the point person on the payment platform (e.g., RefQuest Pay) and this person will be responsible for ensuring that officials’ payments are issued in accordance with this regulation. (January 2025)
SECTION 6.0 AMPLIFIERS, NOISEMAKERS AND OTHER SOUND GENERATING DEVICES
6.1 Per NCAA rule, artificial noisemakers, airhorns or electronic amplifiers shall not be permitted, and such instruments shall be removed from the playing and spectator areas.
6.2 Bands or any component there of, shall not play while the game is in progress.
6.3 Host institution bands may not be seated behind the visiting team bench.
6.4 Auxiliary public address systems utilized by home or visiting institution spirit groups must:
1) Be approved by the home event management and coordinated with the primary public address system so as not to interrupt, alter or in any other way impede the function of the primary public address system.
2) Must not be used with the intent of preventing a team a reasonable and fair environment in which to compete.
6.4.1 Any violation of this provision shall immediately result in the discontinued use of the system.
6.5 Airhorns may only be used by home team game management for substitution and other game-related purposes.
6.6 Use of whistles is the exclusive right of the game officials.
6.7 Amplifying devices such as megaphones may not be used to direct obscenities, vulgar language, racist or sexist remarks toward any participants, spectators, or officials at any time. Violations to this provision shall result in immediate confiscation of the device(s), and possible removal of violator from the venue.
SECTION 7.0 SPORTS INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
7.1 The Sports Information Director (SID) at the host institution will be responsible for keeping all statistical information.
7.2 All Conference schools are required to use StatCrew software. The home team is the official book.
7.3 The StatCrew game file shall be e-mailed to the Visiting team sports information director and to the PacWest Conference office as soon as possible at the conclusion of the game.
7.4 Numerical rosters and pronunciation guides for each conference sport shall be provided to the conference office for distribution to member schools no later than two weeks prior to the first regularly scheduled contest.
7.5 Per NCAA guidelines, statistics from games played against junior colleges, club teams and teams from foreign countries may not be counted when reporting statistics to the NCAA and the PacWest. (Note: Under NCAA guidelines, games against Canadian schools may be counted if the Canadian school schedules at least half its games against U.S. four-year colleges)
SECTION 8.0 SPORTS MEDICINE REQUIREMENTS
SECTION 9.0 AWARDS
9.1 For guidelines in selection of All-Conference team, see conference Awards process.
9.2 For guidelines in selection of Academic All-Conference team, see conference Awards process.
9.3 For guidelines in selection of Conference Coach of the Year, see conference Awards process.
9.4 A Player-of-the-Year, a Pitcher-of-the-Year, a Newcomer-of-the-Year and a freshman-of-the-Year shall be selected. See conference Awards process.
9.5 A Player-of-the-Week and Pitcher-of-the-Week shall be selected. See conference Awards process.
SECTION 10.0 TOBACCO USAGE
10.1 Tobacco usage by athletes, coaches, officials and event staff is strictly prohibited at all PacWest athletic events, including practice sessions.
10.2 Violators are subject to contest suspension for each offense. Following a team's first offense, head coaches in addition to the violator are subject to suspension for each additional offense.
SECTION 11.0 COACHES MEETINGS
There shall be two meetings of the coaches annually, one prior to the season and one after the season. The site, date, and time of these mandatory meetings must be communicated to all coaches and administrators at least two weeks prior to the meeting.
SECTION 12.0 ITEMS NOT COVERED
Items not covered in conference regulations shall adhere to NCAA rules and regulations. The Conference office shall have the authority to levy fines or other penalties deemed appropriate for violations of sport regulation. Such penalties shall be appealable to the Committee on Appeals.
SECTION 13.0 FOLLOW UP
Violations to the PacWest Game Management Protocol are to be reported by the Director of Athletics or other designated athletic dept. administrator to the opposing athletic administrators and the PacWest Commissioner within five (5) business days. Additionally, all ejections resulting from unsportsmanlike conduct are to be reported to the PacWest Commissioner in writing by host personnel immediately following competition.