My man went off!
When it comes to the recent NCAA Baseball Tournament action between Duke and Oklahoma State, there was a ton of scandal surrounding it. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Blue Devils head coach Chris Pollard who was absolutely furious about his star player AJ Gracia being ejected.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Gracia knocked out a solo home run that sparked up a rally that ultimately saw the Devils defeat the Cowboys, 3-2. After they slashed Oklahoma State’s advantage, Duke witnessed their 1B/OF Sam Harris pop in two runs off a single to give them that 3-2 lead. (RELATED: SEC Sucking Incredible Amount Of Fun Out Of College Sports)
We had a little bit of a scandalous ending because of a runner exiting the lane violation during the ninth inning, which resulted in the last out and a Cowboys defeat. However, the crazier scene was the ejection on Gracia when Duke put themselves on top during the eighth and while Gracia was celebrating.
“Incredibly disappointed in the rule and the way the rule was interpreted and executed tonight,” Pollard said after the game, according to a video that can be seen here. “AJ Gracia, who’s one of the best players in college baseball, hit a home run earlier in the inning to put us within one run. We have a celebration in our dugout where we give the construction helmet to the player that makes a big play. It’s a symbol of our blue collar culture, and it’s something that we rally around, and it gets our guys excited and creates energy.”
“AJ was wearing the helmet because he had just hit the home run. Later in the inning, Sam Harris hits a single. We score from first on a single to take the lead in the championship game of regional to go to a Super Regional. Our guys are undoubtedly excited, and they should be, and they jump out of the dugout to high five their teammates as they’re running back over to the dugout,” he continued.
“AJ still had the helmet on from where he had hit the home run and celebrated. He took two steps out of our dugout, not to show anybody up, not to be disrespectful of the game, not to disrespect Oklahoma City — to cheer on his teammate and give him high fives. This rule and this type of action by the umpire is why people get so frustrated with the NCAA. I’m disappointed for AJ Gracia that he won’t pay in one of the biggest games of his life when we start the Super Regional, I’m disappointed for Duke baseball and I’m disappointed for college baseball.”
Let’s do better, NCAA, because this is absolutely ridiculous.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
