Sunday afternoon, Louisville took down Indiana to advance the regional final against Illinois State in the 2019 NCAA college baseball tournament. Along the way, though, Louisville might have suffered a costly blow to its chances at a deep tournament run.
Here is Cardinals closer Michael McAvene expressing his dismay to a called ball by simply saying "that's horrible" and then turning back around immediately. The home plate umpire, however, made quite the spectacle of himself:
Louisville closer just got tossed from the game for saying “that’s horrible” to the umpire. What a joke #NCAA pic.twitter.com/oedQhzjyU3
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 2, 2019
As noted in the broadcast, the call probably wasn't "horrible." The umpire's actions after that were. McAvene didn't yell at him, he didn't cuss, he didn't name call, he didn't show him up. He simply said -- as if to himself -- "that's horrible."
This was a heated moment. It's the latter stages of a game where the losing team sees its season end. This is still a college kid. One would hope an umpire tasked with a game like this would be able to give a bit more leeway than to make a scene and toss a kid for this, especially since the rules dictate ...
NCAA’s statement pic.twitter.com/99wfjwxTcm
— Jody Demling (@jdemling) June 2, 2019
Yes, four games. A four-game suspension for saying "that's horrible" in a heated moment of an elimination game. Not great, ump.
You can find the full bracket for the 2019 tournament here.