Marucci Black BBCOR Baseball Bat Banned By NCAA

BBCOR Marucci Black Baseball Bat Banned By NCAA

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
MEMORANDUM
June 6, 2012
TO: Head Baseball Coaches, Conference Commissioners, Compliance Officers
and Coordinators of Umpires.
FROM: Jeff Hurd, chair
Baseball Rules Committee
SUBJECT: Decertification of Marucci CAT-52 and Black bats.
This memo serves as the NCAA’s official notice of the decertification of the 
Marucci CAT-52 34-inch and Black 33-inch and 34-inch models. Effective
immediately, these bats will not be allowed for use in any NCAA baseball 
competition.
For ease of reference, photos of the bats are below: 
The NCAA originally notified Marucci of this decertification in April, at which time Marucci filed suit against the NCAA. A temporary restraining order preventing the decertification of the bats was issued immediately and the district court ordered the proceedings to be kept under seal. On June 5, the district court 
unsealed the case and dissolved the temporary restraining order against the 
NCAA, thus permitting the NCAA to proceed with the decertifying of the bats.
This was the second time Marucci was notified of one of their bats being 
decertified. In February, the Marucci Cat-52
33-inch model was found to be out of compliance and was decertified at that time. Team representatives are asked to check your team’s stock of bats and withhold 
these bats if your team is in possession of any. Conference administrators are 
asked to share this information with your umpires as well. If any of these bats are
attempted to be used during competition, it should be considered an illegal bat and 
subject to NCAA Baseball Rule 1-12-b, (see the penalty section for procedures).
In 2011, the NCAA implemented a baseball bat testing standard called the 
Baseball Bat Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) measurement. The decision to 
implement the standard was rooted in preserving the integrity of the game and 
ensuring the safety of student-athletes – as some non-wood bats hit the ball 
significantly faster and farther than wood bats, they can create a significant 
competitive advantage and also put players at greater risk of injury. The NCAA 
certfies only those non-wood bats that perform like their wood counterparts to be 
eligible for competition for this reason. All bats are tested prior to and throughout 
the baseball season to ensure they are within the BBCOR standards. If a group of 
a specific model of bats (three or more bats tested) are found to fail the 
compliance test, they are decertified and removed from use in NCAA 
competition.
For any questions on this decision, please contact Ty Halpin (Playing Rules, 
[email protected]) or Cameron Schuh (Public and Media Relations, 
[email protected]) at the NCAA. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 
JH:clm
cc: Mr. Gene McArtor
Baseball Rules Committee
Selected NCAA Staff Members