By Will Vandervort.

Steven Duggar knew there was something different with the baseball this fall when a couple of guys who have never hit the ball over the fence were knocking them over.

“In batting practice that is when it first hit,” the Clemson outfielder said. “I was like, ‘Wow! These balls are getting 20 to 25 feet on them.’”

That’s exactly what the new flat-seam baseball is getting.

Last year, the Division I Baseball Committee members made the decision to change to a flat-seamed baseball after research conducted this by the Washington State University Sport Science Laboratory showed that flat-seamed baseballs launched out of a pitching machine at averages of 95 mph, a 25-degree angle and a 1,400 rpm spin rate traveled around 387 feet compared to raised-seamed baseballs that went 367 feet.

In the flat-, raised-seamed baseball research, according to a story on the NCAA’s official Web Site, the speed and angles used in the testing were chosen because they are the conditions when typical home runs occur in Division I baseball competition. Due to variables (individual bat speed, wind direction, whether the ball is stuck on the bat’s “sweet spot,” etc.) that can impact the distance a baseball can travel, not every trajectory hit with a flat-seamed ball will travel exactly 20 feet farther than a raised-seamed ball, but a 20-foot average difference is an approximate representation of what can be expected.

“During the fall, I think there was a little bit of a difference,” said Clemson coach Jack Leggett, who serves on the committee. “The difference being, not initially are you going to see a whole lot home runs, but I think you will see more balls in the gap and a little challenging opportunities for the outfielders because the ball does not get up in the air and die like it used to.

“Now if you hit a ball, and it has backspin on it, it has a chance to go to the gap.”

The NCAA’s official supplier of championship baseballs, Rawlings, also conducted testing of the flat-seam balls in its own research lab.  That research was consistent with the findings in the WSU lab.

“They’re nice. They made some changes to them and you could see it in the fall,” Duggar said. “Those balls that would be caught are now going over guys’ heads. The new balls are now going to make a difference.”

While the distance the baseball travels is increased due to less drag on the ball, the health of and safety of the players will not be compromised. The core of the ball and the bat-exit speed will not change.

“I like it because it is like a minor league baseball or pro baseball. It is a little less seam. Less cut. I like it personally because it moves more,” Clemson pitcher Matthew Crownover said. “I am two-seam guy anyway. That helps me out and I know most of the guys feel the same way. With those old balls, you never knew. Sometimes the seams were hard and sometimes they were soft. I like the smaller seams better.”

Leggett, like Crownover, says the new baseball gives pitchers a little more control than the older ball.

“I think our pitchers like it. I was wondering about that,” the Clemson coach said. “The seams are not as tough on their fingers. It can give you a little bit more velocity and sometimes more ball movement, but I have not seen any difference in the breaking ball.

Committee members were spurred to look at the research after becoming concerned with diminishing offensive numbers in the Division I Baseball Championship, particularly at the College World Series site in Omaha.

In the 2013 CWS, there were only three home runs hit in TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, which opened in 2011. The first year of the CWS at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha also marked the year that the bat standards changed to make metal bats perform more like wood bats.

“(The new ball) is making outfielders work a little bit harder which I think will make it a little bit more exciting game,” Leggett said.

“I think it is better. I think it is better for the game,” he continued. “I honestly think we should take it one step further and go to the minor league baseball. That would really help college baseball. This is one step, but I’m hoping there is another step after this to be honest with you. It has a little bit harder core and it will put a little more life into it.”