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- Baylor baseball pulled off a big win on Sunday.
- However, during the game, one of its pitchers was checked for a suspicious substance and questions remain unanswered.
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Baylor University baseball had itself a big weekend. The Bears pulled off two Top-25 wins in the 2022 Shriner’s Children’s College Classic and will undoubtedly find themselves in the rankings this week.
After beating No. 23 UCLA 2-1 on Friday, Baylor lost to Tennessee on Saturday but upset No. 7/8 LSU on Sunday. However, the win over the Tigers doesn’t come without some controversy.
More than likely, it was a misunderstanding or something totally explainable. In the off chance that it wasn’t, there are a lot of questions left unanswered.
During the early innings of what went on to be a 9-6 win, people began to notice a strange substance on the shoulder of Bears starter Will Rigney.
Take a look:
Baylor’s pitcher cheating??? pic.twitter.com/O9gTsnVdCd
— Adam (@geauxtigers2025) March 7, 2022
What is that shiny shit on his shoulder?! #Lsu #Baylor pic.twitter.com/Ofpy1jvXAv
— Bill Hodges (@bhodges80) March 7, 2022
Very curious as to what is all over @BaylorBaseball starting pitchers throwing shoulder tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/hvWTZzucX3
— Spittin Seeds (@SpittinSeeds247) March 7, 2022
He was pitching pretty well, but — even though he never appeared to touch his shoulder with his throwing hand or the ball — the suspicious residue was hard to look past.
Will Rigney (@BaylorBaseball) with a scoreless 2nd IP. Short arm, 91-93 mostly. Lots of SLs with good feel for it at 84-86. Flashed a CH. #PGDraft pic.twitter.com/PuzHpXN4P6
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) March 7, 2022
It only got worse as he continued to throw and sweat.
— – (@Spicoli_____) March 7, 2022
Many people suggested that it may have been icy hot, others thought that it was some sort of powder that coagulated when it mixed with sweat, and there was certainly a subset of the population that thought it was some sort of foreign substance. Whatever it was, there is certainly reason to wonder what it was.
Eventually, it became too significant to overlook and the umpires went out to the mound to discuss the residue with Rigney.
Umpires having a discussion about Baylor pitcher’s jersey. #LSU pic.twitter.com/MNxEfVSIg8
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 7, 2022
Ultimately, after the deliberation, the umpire crew had Rigney change his undershirt mid-game. They did not eject him from the contest and his day came to a close after 3 and 2/3 innings pitched.
Despite the controversy, neither Baylor nor Rigney spoke about the substance in question after the game. Again, more than likely, it was something very explainable, but knowing exactly what it was might help any further speculation.
It seems like the Bears could come out and put all of the debate to rest, but they have not yet done so.