Utah Valley upset Oregon in the opening round of the NCAA men’s baseball Eugene Regional on Friday, but the 6-5 win occurred under major controversy.
The Wolverines took a 4-0 lead in the third inning with the first four batters reaching base against Ducks pitcher Jason Reitz. Reitz struck out the next two batters, but gave up a two-run single to Mason Strong. Oregon closed the margin to 4-2 in the bottom of the frame on back-to-back home runs from Drew Smith and Anson Aroz.
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Utah Valley added to its lead on a two-run single by Jimmy De Anda in the seventh. But the Ducks closed the gap to 6-4 in the eighth on Smith’s second homer of the game. From there, the game became hectic.
Aroz drew a walk following Smith’s home run and advanced to third on a Maddox Molony single. Chase Meggers then lofted a sacrifice fly to left field that brought Aroz in to score — or so it appeared. De Anda’s throw bounced in front of Strong at the plate and the catcher couldn’t snare the carom. Aroz ran hard into Strong to get to home plate, which Utah Valley coach Nate Rasmussen disputed.
Rasmussen asked umpires to review the call, contending Aroz committed “malicious contact” in running over Strong to score. After reviewing the play with the NCAA’s replay command center in Pittsburgh, the umpiring crew agreed with Rasmussen. Aroz was ruled out and ejected from the game.
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Not only did the call cost Oregon a run and get Aroz ejected from the game, but the outfielder is also suspended for Saturday’s game against Cal Poly because of it.
In the ninth, the Ducks added a run with Carter Garate drawing a walk and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jacob Walsh. But they couldn’t get the tying run across against Utah Valley’s Carston Herman, who struck out Smith to end the game.
Following the game, Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski was…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/ncaa-baseball-tournament-utah-valley-upsets-oregon-after-controversial-malicious-contact-call-152756635.html
Author : Ian Casselberry
Publish date : 2025-05-31 15:27:00
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