Women’s College World Series: Elimination game sparks controversy

Controversy struck the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) during an elimination game between UCLA and Tennessee on Sunday.

Bruins first baseman Megan Grant came up to the plate with two outs and a runner on first and crushed a pitch off Volunteers pitcher Karlyn Pickens to tie the game, or so everyone thought.

Grant rounded third and headed for home to celebrate with her teammates. She didn’t appear to touch home plate and a teammate needed to bring her back to make sure she did. 

Tennessee challenged the run and umpires reviewed it to see whether she touched home plate and whether she was “assisted” back to make sure she definitely made contact with it. College softball rules specify that a runner cannot be physically assisted by a teammate to touch the plate.

“After review, the call on the field is upheld and the run will score,” the umpire announced. “The runner did miss home plate and was assisted. However, that play is not reviewable, according to Appendix G.”

Appendix G in the NCAA softball rulebook determines what is reviewable.

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It was a huge break for the Bruins as they were able to extend the game.

Tennessee came up in the bottom of the ninth and pushed one run across the plate to win the game, 5-4. Infielder Laura Mealer singled home Taylor Pannell to win it.

The Volunteers now move onto the next round and UCLA goes home. Tennessee faces Texas in the semifinals on Monday. They need to beat the Longhorns twice to move to the championship.

UCLA’s Sofia Mujica and Alexis Ramirez each hit home runs for the Bruins in the loss.

Pickens pitched all nine innings for the Volunteers and struck out seven batters.

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