We’re deep into Game 2 of the College World Series championship series, and Florida and LSU have already delivered on what was a much ballyhooed best-of-three tilt. That has continued into Game 2, where a boneheaded LSU base running play wiped the tying run off the board in a close 2-1 affair.
This interference call erased the tying run for LSU in the College World Series final
You can’t cleat a guy’s shins.
In the top of the seventh inning, LSU logged their first run of the game, plating speedster Zach Watson from second on a Josh Smith double. Then, Jake Slaughter singled through the right side to send Smith to third. After him, catcher Michael Papierski grounded into a double play, and Slaughter’s landing at second was by no means regulation.
This does not pass muster. Slaughter clearly steers his way right into Florida shortstop Dalton Guthrie’s shin in an attempt to disrupt his throw to first. He indeed disrupts the throw, but it in any case arrives on time to lock down the double play on Papierski. Slaughter is clearly to the right of the baseline.
Let’s turn our attention to Smith over on third, who sprinted his way home to apparently score LSU’s tying run of the game. Had Slaughter not caused such a violent collision at second, Smith’s run would have counted. However, with Slaughter’s base running interference, Smith’s advancement no longer fell under the force out umbrella, and he had to stay where he was.
So Slaughter’s interference at second quite literally wiped the tying run off the board for LSU. That can’t be any kind of a good feeling for the Tigers, who were clearly displeased with this unfortunate series of events.
That’s tough cookies for Tigers fans, who have no one to blame but Jake Slaughter. Without the interference call, that force out penalty does not come to bear. In any case, LSU certainly wants this one back, because if they lose, that’s the season.
Florida leads 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth.
