Troy has cut Ole Miss baseball‘s lead to one run in their College World Series game on June 14, and it all started with a balk.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Hunter Elliott was called for a balk in the top of the fifth inning. He put his hand up to his ear to try to listen to the pitchcom with the ball in his hand. He then stepped off the pitching rubber, resulting in a balk.
The Troy runner on third base was allowed to advance home, cutting Ole Miss‘ lead to three runs. After the call Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco walked onto the field to discuss the call with first-base umpire Billy Van Raaphorst.
ESPN’s rules analyst Scott Cline agreed with the call while watching a replay of the balk. Analyst Ben McDonald questioned the umpire’s decision to rule this movement a balk and not previous instances in which Elliott tried to improve his pitchcom hearing.
According to the broadcast, it was the first balk of Elliott’s career.
Following the run, Troy’s Sean Darnell hit a two-RBI single cutting the Trojans’ deficit to just one run. After Elliott gave up another single, Ole Miss made a pitching change, bringing in JP Robertson.
Ole Miss led 6-5 entering the bottom of the fifth inning at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Why Hunter Elliott was called for balk in Ole Miss vs Troy at CWS
