The Southeastern Conference is shaking things up at the plate. On Monday, the SEC announced it will be testing a new challenge system for ball and strike calls at its upcoming conference tournament—a move that could change the way the game is played at the collegiate level.

Think of it as a college baseball version of what Major League Baseball rolled out this season. The numbers from the pros are already turning heads: according to Baseball Savant, a whopping 53% of the 2,160 automated ball-strike challenges in MLB through Monday had been successful. That's a lot of overturned calls.

Here's how it will work at the SEC Tournament. Each team will start the game with three challenges at their disposal. And here's the key detail, as reported by D1Baseball: only the pitcher, catcher, and hitter can actually request a challenge. If a player wants to dispute an umpire's call, they can immediately appeal to an automated tracking system that monitors pitch locations and strike zones. (Each player's height will be measured before the tournament to ensure accuracy.) If the challenge is successful, the team gets to keep that challenge. If not, it's gone.

What about extra innings? Good question. If the game goes beyond the regulation nine, each team gets one challenge per inning. That challenge can be used at any point during that inning, but it doesn't roll over into the next extra frame.

The SEC is also making sure fans don't miss a beat. In a press release, the conference shared that "after the umpire signals that a challenge has been initiated, an animated pitch result graphic will be displayed on the stadium videoboard and on the television broadcast, showing the location of the pitch, whether the call was confirmed or overturned, and the updated ball-strike count." That means you'll see exactly what happened, right there on the big screen.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey summed it up best: "The introduction of this challenge system at the SEC Tournament reflects our continued commitment to innovation. This addition represents a continued step forward for our game, aligns more closely with the professional level, and supports the development of our student-athletes as they prepare for success at the next level."

Mark your calendars. The SEC Tournament gets underway on May 19 at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. It's going to be a tournament to remember—and maybe even a preview of the future of college baseball.