Getty Image
UGA closer Christian Mracna is under fire amid cheating allegations being brought about by rival fans. The pitcher is accused of applying a foreign substance to his glove before appearances, helping him to better perform on the mound.
The initial claims came following his most recent outing versus Texas A&M. Now, evidence seems to be mounting!
Mracna shined against the Aggies, striking out six of the seven batters he faced on Saturday night to land a save and preserve a one-run win for the Bulldogs. Prior to entering the game, however, he was filmed doing some sketchy activity in the bullpen.
After running through his warm-up session, the righty was seen squatting down in a hidden corner, removing his mitt, and pulling out something from behind the fence.
Interesting 🤔 pic.twitter.com/eyHaiAZYzs
— Barstool Texas A&M (@BarstoolTexasAM) April 28, 2024
What that something was is unknown, though many believed it to be some sort of sticky substance used to increase Christian Mracna’s grip and spin rate.
Those insinuations only grew when he was seen going repeatedly to the same spot on the outside of his glove, dabbing the area with his pitching hand in between deliveries.
The evidence seemed enough to put two-and-two together in this isolated instance, but now, more video has been found and it could be damning.
Christian Mracna has been seen doing this on multiple occasions.
Clips from past outings have since been posted to social media as fans look to get to the bottom of the activity. What’s going on?!
Those images again show the reliever rubbing the outside of his mitt in between pitches on the mound.
04/11/24 vs Missouri
04/20/24 vs Ole Miss
04/23/24 vs Clemson
04/27/24 vs Texas A&M@SECbaseball @NCAABaseball How long are you going to let Christian Mracna cheat? @rcb05 @BarstoolTexasAM @R_Brauninger @GregSankey @SECOfficiating @KendallRogers pic.twitter.com/ct1oQ0pqER— Fan (@A88795232) April 28, 2024
“How long are you going to let Christian Mracna cheat?” the accompanying caption read with the user tagging both the NCAA and the SEC.
We need answers!
The video doesn’t necessarily prove the cheating allegations to be true. Given he’s seen touching that spot on the glove in multiple appearances, maybe it’s just a peculiar quirk or habit. College baseball players are known to stick to a strict routine.
But when paired with the initial video from the bullpen, things certainly get a little bit murky!
Will the league office look into the claims? Maybe we’ll see a mound visit from the umpiring crew the next time Mracna enters a ballgame.