College Baseball Game Ends As Player Ruled Out For Missing Base After Game-Tying Moonshot
After beginning the 2023 college baseball season at 1-0, Missouri University of Science and Technology may have been screwed out of its second win Sunday. An ump show proceeded to unfold and ended in controversy.
Missouri S&T hosted Wayne State College for its first series of the year. Both teams compete on the D-II level.
Because of the long weekend, the series was played Saturday, Sunday and Monday, rather than the standard Friday start. It was also a four-game series, with a seven-inning doubleheader played on Sunday.
This is where the dissention lies.
Down 6-3 with two outs and two on in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, senior infielder Chase Burgess stepped into the box, turned on a pitch and unloaded. The towering three-run home run would have tied the score at 6.
After the first two runners crossed the plate and cut the score to 6-5, Burgess rounded third and headed for home. His teammates awaited him at the dish, and he went to celebrate in style.
Burgess hopped up into the air and tried to land down on top of home plate as an exclamation point to his would-be, game-tying, three-run dinger. It was the jolt of energy that his team needed to get back into the game and the energy was palpable.
However, college baseball is unpredictable...
As the celebration continued, the umpire ruled that Burgess did not touch home plate. He was called out and the game was over. Missouri S&T lost by one run.
The call was questionable, to say the least. Especially in such a crucial moment.
Although the umpire had the best view of the play, there is contention over whether Burgess actually missed, or whether it was the umpire who missed his foot hitting the base. Not one single part of his foot made contact with the plate? Not even a corner of his cleat?!
Here is another look:
Did Burgess touch the plate? Did his foot fail to tap the rubber?
Either way, what's done is done. The Miners lost. It was an unfortunate result to close out an exhilarating game, and it begs the question as to whether the umpire should have made that call.
While rules are rules, and rules should be enforced, ending a game in such a manner is unfortunate. Perhaps it would have been easier to turn a blind eye.