College Outfielder Fools Everyone With Fake Home Run Robbery

He tricked the whole stadium.

Indiana State is headed to the Super Regionals of the NCAA baseball tournament for the second time in school history—and having some fun in the process. 

The Sycamores hosted one of the 16 regionals in Terre Haute this weekend after going 42–15 and winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. They beat Wright State and Iowa in their first two games to set up a rematch with the Hawkeyes on Sunday with a spot in the Super Regionals on the line. The stakes were high, but when Iowa’s Brayden Frazier hit a long fly ball to deep left-center, Indiana State left fielder Adam Pottinger decided to pull a little prank.

Pottinger leaped to try to catch the ball, and even though he couldn’t make the grab, he acted as if he did. And everyone believed him. 

Frazier turned around and started a dejected walk back to the dugout, believing he’d been robbed of a home run. But Pottinger eventually had to fess up and show that his glove was empty, at which point Frazier’s teammates frantically urged him to resume his trip around the bases. 

Frazier had good reason to believe Pottinger had made the catch. In the previous meeting between the two teams on Saturday, Pottinger made a nearly identical play to rob Frazier of a homer. 

A robbery reported in Terredise!! #RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN+ / @IndStBaseball pic.twitter.com/xgu3zUfyhj

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 4, 2023

The homer cut the Sycamores’ lead to 11–8, but Iowa’s comeback fell short, and Indiana State advanced to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history. ISU will face either Arkansas or TCU in the next round. We’ll see what kind of hijinks Pottinger gets up to then.