No more slugfests

One of the biggest storylines of the 2011 college baseball season has been the switch to less lively "BBCOR" bats. The change in equipment has shifted the balance of power in the direction of pitching and defense. The home run is still a factor, but it's much less likely that any given game is going to be decided by the long ball.

No matter how much you like to watch baseballs fly a long, long way, there's no doubt that the new bats have turned Division I baseball into a more exciting game. Deader bats mean fewer runs, and fewer runs translate into closer games. With nearly 4,000 D-I games already behind us, we can get a pretty good idea of what has changed, and how.

To see read more about how the new bats are affecting the game, and sometimes making contests even longer, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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