UPDATE: The Lady Vols just walked things off in the bottom of the ninth to post a thrilling 5-4 win to advance to the national semifinals. The brutal mistake by the umps didn't fully rob this team in the end.
You have got to be kidding. In the top of the seventh inning, with the Tennessee Vols one out away from taking care of business in the Women's College World Series vs. UCLA, disaster struck. Bruins' star Megan Grant belted a 2-run homer to tie things up.
However, she was so excited about the clutch dinger that she lost focus on touching home plate. She was mobbed by teammates, who then helped her back to touch the plate. This was a clear no-no and Grant should have been ruled out. This was clear as day, yet the umps missed it and the explanation for why the home run stood was even worse:
UCLA's Megan Grant clearly missed home plate on her game-tying HR vs. Tennessee
Just a complete and total joke. This isn't some regular season game that doesn't mean much in the middle of the campaign. This is the College World Series we're talking about. Grant came up huge for her team, sure, but rules are rules. She missed home and her teammates helped her back.
As soon as this happened, she needed to be ruled out and the ball game should have been over. Tennessee should have ran out onto the field to celebrate the win. Instead, the run stood and things were 3-3 after 7 1/2 innings. The Vols couldn't win it in the bottom of the seventh, resulting in extra innings.
As of this writing, the game is still going on and Tennessee is hoping that this bogus decision won't come back to haunt them. If it does, Vols fans are going to be absolutely furious. Hopefully the Softball Gods are looking after this team. There's just no way they should suffer a loss thanks to the umps not having a clue of what they're doing. Things simply can't end this way for UT.