Sports

Egregious College Baseball Ejection Sparks Bench-Clearing Scuffle After Central Michigan Pitcher Rampage

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The college baseball series finale between Toledo and Central Michigan got feisty during the seventh of 11 innings. Benches cleared over a controversial ejection that stemmed from a violent collision.

It still doesn’t make sense why the baserunner was thrown out of the contest and the pitcher was not.

Although college baseball umpires are not going to tolerate aggression, there is a nuance to this specific incident. None of this would’ve happened if the pitcher did not initiate the hard contact in the first place!

Central Michigan beat Toledo in 11 innings.

Neither the Rockets nor the Chippewas are very good this season. Both teams sit under .500. However, the former still holds a three-game lead over the latter in conference standings despite the recent loss.

Toledo traveled to Kalamazoo for a three-game series with Central Michigan on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The visitors took game one by a score of 10-1. The home team bounced back with a run rule victory in game two. Game three was elecric.

Both teams scored two runs in the third inning. They each added a third run to tie the score at three at the end of the seventh.

The Chippewas put two on the board in the bottom half of the eighth but the Rockets rallied in the top of the ninth to force a continuation. The game to an end in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 11th.

Toledo dropped to 10-11 on the season with the series loss but it is still tied for third in the MAC at 6-3. Central Michigan moved to 9-11 overall and sixth in the MAC at 3-6.

A confusing ejection caused benches to clear.

The incident in question took place during the top of the seventh inning. There were two outs with one runner on second base after a hit by pitch and a balk.

Rockets outfielder Luke Walton knocked a bouncing ground ball down to the right side of the infield. Chippewas pitcher Max Hammond hustled over to the first base line to field the grounder.

He had a choice to make.

Hammond could either flip the ball over to the first baseman for the out or he could take it himself. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound sophomore chose not to risk trouble with the transfer and charged at the runner.

Hammond absolutely clobbered Walton. It was not a light tag. It was a slobberknocker.

Walton could not stay on his feet and went to the ground, hard. He popped right up and charged at Hammond to give him a piece of his mind but the first baseman was able to intercept him before he got to the pitcher. Benches cleared.

Fortunately, the coaches and umpires were able to deescalate the situation before it got out of hand. Unfortunately, Walton was ejected from the contest.

I don’t understand why it wasn’t a double ejection.

At that point, if Walton is going to be punished for expressing displeasure with a needlessly violent tag, he might as well start throwing hands and get his money’s worth. The pitcher followed through with a shove on the runner for no good reason. The runner got ejected for reacting. If that is automatic for Toledo, it should be automatic for Central Michigan.