June 20, 2007

Hit batsmen getting out of hand at CWS

By Andy Gardiner, USA TODAY

OMAHA — Have pitchers lost control, or are hitters pushing a rules interpretation to gain an advantage at the plate?

It's a question that has surfaced every day in this year's College World Series, where teams needed only 10 games to break the record for hit batters in one CWS. The old mark, from 2003, took 16 games to establish.

Louisville's Boomer Whiting was plunked with the first pitch of the Series, and the hit batters have just kept coming. The previous mark of 36 was eclipsed Tuesday, and five more were hit in Wednesday afternoon's game between Rice and North Carolina.

"We're not trying to get hit by pitches. That's not our philosophy," said Tar Heels coach Mike Fox after four of his players were nailed Wednesday. "I think pitchers are just trying to pitch in. You have to establish both sides of the plate."

At least two have been hit in each of the first 11 games. Entering Wednesday night's game, California-Irvine led with 11 men hit in three games, matching the record set by Cal State-Fullerton in four games in 2003.

In several instances, batters have appeared to turn their shoulders into pitches instead of trying to avoid being hit. Fullerton coach George Horton was so convinced Irvine's Taylor Holiday did just that in their elimination game Monday that Horton got ejected for making his point.

"It wasn't about not moving. He stuck his arm out," Horton said after the game. "He did it, and we didn't. It's good baseball if you get away with it."

Holiday admitted he was ready to do anything to give his team a jump-start. The Anteaters now lead the nation with 117 men hit this season.

The NCAA issued a statement after the Fullerton-Irvine game explaining the rule, which calls for an umpire to deny first base to any batter who "intentionally gets hit by moving or rolling any part of the body into the pitch."

Umpires have kept batters at the plate after being hit, including once Wednesday, but they have to make a split-second judgment call. Interpretation of the rule will be a point of emphasis at the NCAA's annual review of the CWS.

Ten of the 42 hit batters have eventually scored. Five plunkings have come with the bases loaded and thus driven in a run.