Umpires Unfairly Blamed For 'Malicious Contact' Call After Oregon Ducks Elimination?

The Oregon Ducks baseball team went viral over the weekend for an unfortunate controversial call against them. Ducks catcher Anson Aroz tagged up from third base in the 8th inning on a sacrifice fly. Aroz collided with Utah Valley catcher Mason Strong, and then chaos ensued. The play went to replay, with umpires taking about 10 minutes to decipher exactly what to do with the situation.

The end result was heartbreak and anger for Oregon fans, as Aroz was ejected due to “malicious contact." With the ejection, Aroz missed Sunday's game against Cal Poly, ultimately ending their season in an Oregon loss.

Oregon’s Anson Aroz, right, collides with Utah Valley catcher Mason Strong at the plate in the eighth inning of the Eugene NCAA Regional at PK Park. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski was irate in the ensuing moments but was able to look back on the situation with a better understanding. the Ducks coach talked about the play after the game:

“I feel bad for the umpires. They said it came from Pittsburgh and it was out of their hands, I’m really proud of the way Aroz went into home plate the way he did, I was taught to play hard. I was taught to get after it by my dad and my coaches growing up, and unfortunately, playing hard was not rewarded tonight by whatever rule was supposedly violated by a player that was playing hard.”

While Wasikowski was able to look at the situation from an umpire-friendly point of view, others in sports media were not as forgiving. Sports media personality Colin Cowherd took to social media and posted, "Prefer they ejected this umpire.”

Wasikowski arguing with an umpire — Jun 8, 2024; College Station, TX, USA; Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski speaks with the umpires Jeff Gosney (right) and Mark Wagers (left) during the first inning against Texas A&M at Olsen Field, Blue Bell Park Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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While the officiating crew received criticism from online spaces, it is important to note they did in fact get the original call from home plate umpire AJ Mendel was safe, but Utah Valley challenged the call. After a lengthy review, the umpires overturned the decision.

The NCAA eventually released a statement about the collision at home plate that saw Aroz ejected from the game and suspended for Sunday's game. In the statement, the NCAA mentioned mentioned rule 8-7 of the Baseball Rules Book, which refers to flagrant of malicious contact.

The rule mentions that flagrant or malicious contact can still be enforced if the runner does not make a legal slide on the ground before contact is made. In Aroz’s case, he did not make a legal slide before colliding with Strong.

Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski reacts to the call by officials during he eighth inning against Utah Valley. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Aroz and the Ducks were stymied on any attempt for an appeal, with the NCAA releasing a statement saying that “the play was carefully reviewed and there is not an appeal process for the judgment involved.”

Aroz clearly attempted to hold up at the last second to avoid injuring Strong, bringing into question the enforcement of rules 8-7.

After the loss to Utah Valley, Wasikowski and the Ducks were eliminated with a second loss to Cal Poly over the weekend.