The NCAA baseball tournament typically brings about some of the highest quality baseball of the year, but on Monday, a celebratory moment turned awkward due to the actions of an umpire.
In the bottom of the seventh inning of an elimination game between No. 8 East Carolina and Coastal Carolina, Pirates centerfielder Bryson Worrell walloped a three-run homer to cap off an eight-run inning. However, as he stood and admired his moonshot go over the right field fence, home plate umpire Perry Costello rushed out and pushed him down the first base line.
The ECU outfielder broke into a slow trot shortly after the bizarre interaction and rounded the bases to give his team a 13–2 advantage.
It remains unclear what Costello hoped to accomplish by ushering Worrell down the line, but the Pirates slugger didn’t seem all that fazed by the ending of the at-bat. The home run capped off a remarkable day for the senior centerfielder, who went 4-for-4 with four RBI and four runs scored.
Behind Worrell’s performance and the eight-run explosion in the seventh inning, ECU knocked off Coastal Carolina 13–4. The win earned the Pirates a spot in the Super Regionals, where they will play No. 9 Texas in a best-of-three series.
