College baseball will be testing out the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, better known as ABS, this week at the SEC Tournament in Hoover.
Each team will receive three ABS challenges per game; if successful, they retain the challenge; if unsuccessful, they lose it. All hitters, catchers or pitchers have to do is tap their head within three seconds of the pitch being caught if they think the call was incorrect.
“There’s gonna be some kinks to work out, there’s no doubt, just like you see in anything,” Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn said. “There’s gonna be some emotional players that want to challenge stuff that’s not. So we’re gonna have to navigate how to handle that a little bit.”
Even if ABS is a hit at the SEC Tournament, don’t expect a nationwide rollout by 2027; most college athletic departments simply can’t afford the massive technology costs.
The tournament has a history of testing experimental rules. Back in 2024, college baseball tested the double first base rule in Hoover, and it was successful, so they implemented it for the 2025 season.
Umpires can often make mistakes and incorrect calls. The ABS system will help minimize that.
“Umpires’ love is the replay,” Vaughn said. “Because they say it all the time, it’s about getting the call right, and they want that. So to me, if it eliminates it, I think these umpires do, for the most part, an incredible job with the strike zone, especially some of these SEC guys.”
The ABS system has been implemented in Major League Baseball for the 2026 season and has been tested across the minor leagues since 2019. Over the years, baseball fans have seen countless games completely flipped by incorrect strike or ball calls from umpires in key moments, and with ABS, the majority of these moments will be eliminated.
“I mean, I guess in a big moment or something like that, and it’s, maybe it’s a ball off or, I don’t know, maybe it’s clipping,” center fielder Bryce Fowler said. “I mean, I think it’ll be good to just have it in your back pocket for sure in a big spot. That way, if something happens, then you can always head tap and, hopefully, it goes your way.”
Some fans are worried that the ABS system will slow down college baseball games even more, since the average game lasts three to three and a half hours. However, an ABS challenge typically only takes around 15 seconds, which won’t add more time to games.
The MLB has already added other rules to speed up games, as the two-disagreement rule for pitchers, which allows them to step off the mound or pick off only twice; otherwise, it is a balk. College baseball could soon follow suit.
“I think college baseball is in a really cool place right now,” Vaughn said. “So, very honestly, I’m all about kind of doing things that make it better. But let’s not tinker too much with what’s working pretty well.”
College baseball could also adopt MLB’s blueprint and implement the three-batter minimum rule, which requires pitchers to face at least three batters before being replaced. Instead of relief pitchers coming in to just face one batter, then coming out and going through the entire pitching change process again, which usually takes around two and a half to three minutes.
Fans will just have to wait and see what the future holds and how the ABS system plays out in Hoover this week.
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