The conclusion of a 21-inning college baseball game that took over a day to finish turned out to be very controversial. Why? Because after all of that time and effort, the game ended with a walk-off balk.
The game not only ended strangely, but also began in an unusual manner. St. Thomas was the road team at home in St. Paul, Minnesota, as it was a makeup game. They had postponed it earlier in the season due to wildfire smoke in Colorado.
The game started on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., but darkness suspended it after 10 innings with the game tied at 5-5. It resumed at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and neither team scored a run until the 19th inning. That’s when both teams scored two runs to tie it again at 7-7.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the 21st inning. Then, with the bases loaded, two outs, and a and a 2-2 count, one of the umpires called a balk on St. Thomas pitcher Nolan Kemp. Game over.
The game between the University of St. Thomas and the University of Northern Colorado tied for the eighth-longest game in Division I baseball history. The two teams used nine pitchers combined, who finished with 33 strikeouts, 27 walks, and a total of 712 pitches over the 21 innings.
Northern Colorado moved to 8-29 with the win, while St. Thomas fell to 6-24.
The next two games in the series also took longer than expected to finish
The game was supposed to mark the start of a four-game series between the two teams, but the 21-inning game and some inclement weather disrupted those plans. Initially, they scheduled a doubleheader for Friday afternoon.
Then, officials suspended the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday after eight innings with St. Thomas leading 11-3 because of darkness, again. So, on Sunday, the teams finished the game, ending with the same score. In game two on Sunday, Northern Colorado ended up winning 6-5. Of course, it took them 10 innings to do so.
They never did get the fourth game started.