Runner tagged out while stepping on the wrong base, a breakdown
What Happened
In a closely contested college baseball game between West Virginia and Arizona, the teams are tied at four runs apiece in the top of the 10th inning. Arizona's batter works the count full and draws a walk, putting the go-ahead run on first base. As the runner attempts to steal second, the West Virginia defense makes a pickoff move. The runner is tagged, but he is standing on the wrong base, the orange safety bag instead of the traditional white base. The umpire correctly calls the runner out, much to the dismay of the Arizona coach. The coach argues vehemently, claiming the West Virginia first baseman "pushed him off" the base. However, replays show the tag was clean, and the runner simply misunderstood the base layout. West Virginia holds onto the 4-4 tie as the teams head to the bottom of the 10th inning. Later in the video, there is another baserunning miscue, this time in a softball game between Minnesota and Michigan State. A Minnesota player hits the ball off the wall and sprints to second base, celebrating what she believes is a successful double. However, the Michigan State shortstop quickly applies the tag, and the umpire calls the runner out after reviewing the play. The embarrassed Minnesota player had incorrectly assumed she was safe and was caught off guard by the heads-up defensive play. The umpires make the right call in both instances, much to the chagrin of the coaches and players involved. These types of baserunning errors and defensive awareness plays can be pivotal in close, high-stakes college baseball and softball games. The detailed breakdowns highlight the importance of understanding the rules and field of play, as well as the need for situational awareness and quick thinking from both players and officials.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentWest Virginia and Arizona tied at four
runs a piece in the top of the tenth.
Lick, lick, lick, lick, swipe. This
breakdown is brought to you by Direct
TV. We've got a full count. We've got
one out. We've got ball four. The
go-ahead run for Arizona is now on first
base. He's closer than he was before to
scoring. That's how it works. Cuz he's
safe. This girl's trying to rally the
troops. Get him going. Get him cheering.
10th inning, pick off. Safe. Wait for
it. Wait for it. Out. Wait. He's on the
wrong base. Um says he's right. You're
wrong. Out. He says, "What?" He says,
"You're on the wrong bag." Yeah. So, for
everyone at home that is not following
college baseball and doesn't know this,
there's now a runner's base so we can
avoid collisions at first base so we
don't have really dumb interference
calls. You and your masculine brain are
going to say, "That's for
girls. Safety. I'm tough and that's
fine. Get your comments off. I've been
advocating for this for a while cuz I
hate seeing first baseman get their arms
hurt or I hate dumb interference calls.
It's just a race to first base
anyway. Just put another base there. I
don't know if it needs to be orange and
I don't know if this rule needs to
exist, but he's on the orange bag, which
is not the white bag. So, we have
problems arising. I can see how that
doesn't work. First baseman's like, I'm
smart. The coach, he's not happy. He
says,
"Godamn [ __ ] horrible." Yeah. Doesn't
like it. He says, "He pushed you
off. He pushed you off." I don't know.
He pushed him off. He had the baseball
in his right hand. Boink. Tags him. That
was after he pushed me off. Oh,
[ __ ] He pushes him off. You'll see.
And the other's like, "Hey, hey, hey,
don't do that. Let's be cool. Let's not
name call. All right, let's be cool." He
[ __ ] pushes him off. Have a shot,
coach. Eat a bug. Want some more of
that? Here we go. Come on. And
then, yeah, have a pair of balls is what
he says. And I have the audio because it
cuts away, but you can hear him. And
that's what he says right
there. Have a pair of balls. Umpire.
He's telling the umpire to have a pair
of balls or the coach to make the call.
Umpire say, "Yeah, no. Like, we agree
with the call." cuz he he he didn't push
him off. You can see the tag right
there. Just comes up gently right there.
He's out. There's no pushing involved
there. You can see the runner move his
foot when he realizes right there when
he realized what's going on. Oh, that
base. My bad. So, he slides in. And I
don't blame the runner. This is unless
you really went over this. But yeah,
right there he's out. There's no pushing
involved. And then you'll see him move
his foot
right there. Oh, that's the bag. My bad.
Coach kind of gaslet his own player
though. He's like, "He pushed you off."
That's the story, son. And that's what
we're going to argue. He pushed you off.
Oh, double double breakdown. I forgot.
Double breakdown. We had another tag out
in this softball game between Minnesota
and Michigan State. Off the wall, throws
it into second base. She's in there
safe. She celebrates. She's out. What?
I'm out. Wait, he's out. They go to
replay to check on it. They ask the
shorts stop. She's like, "Did you get
her?" She's like, "Oh, yeah, baby. She's
out. Yeah, I got her. She got her." It
was embarrassing. And I got her. Um's
checking it. Here we go. She slides in.
She's safe. She celebrates with the next
batter. Woo! She gets tagged out right
there by the number eight. Heads up play
out celebrating a
double. Sneaky little tag. Game
awareness. They go uh from under the
hood. Headphones off. We're gonna power
walk to the middle here. And then we're
going to power jog because we don't want
to waste too many people's time. And
we're going to get to the middle. We're
gonna wave. I got news. I have news. The
results are in. She jumped and she's
out. And she's feeling smart. And this
umpire is feeling smart. Made the right
call. Was all over it. Good job me. This
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