Editing Softball (section)

===Ending the game===

The team with the most runs after seven innings wins the game. The last (bottom) half of the seventh inning or any remaining part of the seventh inning is not played if the team batting second is leading.

If the game is tied, play usually continues until a decision is reached, by using the international tie-breaker rules. Starting in the top of first extra inning, the batting team starts with a baserunner on second base, which is the player who is the last available to bat (in other words, the batter who last took their position in the batter's box; regardless whether they were the last out or another runner was put out).

In games where one team leads by a large margin, the [[mercy rule|run ahead rule]] may come into play in order to reduce any potential embarrassment of weaker teams. In fastpitch and modified pitch, a margin of 15 runs after 3 innings, 10 after 4, or 7 after 5 is sufficient for the leading team to be declared the winner. In slow pitch, the margin is 20 runs after 4 innings or 15 after 5 innings.<ref name=rules/> In the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]], the required margin after 5 innings is 8 runs. The mercy rule takes effect at the end of an inning. Thus, if the team batting first is ahead by enough runs for the rule to come into effect, the team batting second has their half of the inning to narrow the margin.

A game may be lost due to a "forfeit". A score of 7–0 for the team not at fault is recorded (generally one run is awarded for each inning that would have been played). A forfeit may be called due to any of these circumstances: if a team does not show up to play; if one side refuses to continue play; if a team fails to resume play after a suspension of play ends; if a team uses tactics intended to unfairly delay or hasten the game; if a player removed from the game does not leave within one minute of being instructed to do so; if a player that cannot play enters the game and one pitch has been thrown; if a team does not have, for whatever reason, enough players to continue; or if after warning by the umpire, a player continues to intentionally break the rules of the game. This last rule is rarely enforced as players who break rules after being warned are usually removed.

The plate umpire may suspend play because of darkness or anything that puts players or spectators in danger. If four innings have been played and a team is in the lead, the game is recorded as it stands. If fewer than four innings have been played, the game is not considered a "regulation" game. Games that are not regulation or are tied when suspended are resumed from the point of suspension. If it is a championship game, it is replayed from the beginning. Team rosters may be changed.