College Baseball Offense Takes Hit With New Bats

OMAHA, Neb. (CBS/AP) -- College baseball teams are hitting half as many home runs and averaging a run less per game at the season's midway point.

Blame -- or credit -- the new metal bats put into play this year.

The average Division I team is hitting 0.47 home runs per game and scoring 5.63 runs so far this season.

A year ago, teams were averaging 0.85 home runs and 6.98 runs.

The NCAA researched the data through Sunday's games and released the findings Thursday.

Stanford coach Mark Marquess said he fears losing fans at a time when the game is more popular than ever.

The new bats are designed to perform very similiar to wooden ones.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)