How many innings are in a softball game?

A game of softball has seven innings as opposed to a nine-inning baseball game. Each inning is broken into a top half and a bottom half, and the game is won by the team with the most runs scored when the bottom of the seventh inning ends.

The only times a softball game may be longer than seven innings is if the game is tied after the bottom of the seventh or if there is a mercy rule in effect. A mercy rule causes the game to end early if one of the teams is ahead by a certain large number of runs after the third, fourth or fifth inning.