Audio By Carbonatix
Ole Miss defeated Arkansas State on Tuesday for its first midweek win of the 2025 college baseball season. The Rebels worked their way out of a jam on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning but it was a nasty pickoff move that has sparked a debate about whether it is legal.
Should it have been called as a balk?!
The play took place in the top of the eighth. Ole Miss led its non-conference college baseball opponent by two runs. The Red Wolves had one runner on first with one out.
Walker Hooks, a true freshman left-handed pitcher, toed the rubber out of the bullpen for the second time this year during a crucial spot for the Rebels with a chance to really shut things down.
Arkansas State first baseman Cason Tollett reached base on a single to right field and took a large lead off of the bag on the next pitch. He paid the price. Hooks acted like he was going to deliver to the plate, contorted his body, and used a weird arm angle to throw back to first instead.
GOT HIM 😮💨@Walker_Hooks9 with the gnarly pickoff move pic.twitter.com/SvNPj3EPXJ
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 18, 2025
Tollett did not get back to the base in time. He was called out.
But was it a balk?! One of baseball’s most intricate rules often leads to widespread confusion and this is the latest example. It is designed to limit a pitcher’s ability to fake a pitch or a pick-off throw to one of the bases. Hooks may have done the former.
First and foremost, a pitcher must get to a set position before starting his motion toward home plate. An umpire can call a ball if the pitcher flinches during the set or skips the set all together.
The rule goes even one step further for lefties, who have a straight-on view of the runner at first. Once a lefty pitcher raises his right foot, he must land said foot in the direction in which they are throwing. If he is throwing to first, his right foot must land on the inside of a 45º angle. If he is throwing home, the foot must land on the outside of that angle, between 45º and 180º. Hooks’ foot landed right on the line.
By rule of cool, the nasty pickoff move was legal. It helped the Rebels get out of the eighth and they ultimately went on to win in the 10th. However, a different set of umpires might call Walker Hooks for a balk. His plant foot was right on the edge.