ESPN+ Technically Broadcasts Artemis II Launch During Delayed College Softball Game

The Stetson Hatters hosted the No. 7 Florida Gators on Wednesday. While Stetson lost the game, they were very gracious hosts who kind of held a viewing party when the game was briefly delayed so everyone could watch the Artemis II rocket launch.

The game took place at Stetson's Patricia Wilson Field in DeLand, Fla., about an hour north of Kennedy Space Center where the launch took place on Wednesday evening. Stetson broadcasters Evan Weston and Vanessa Bataille were on the call when Artemis II appeared in the sky early in the game.

Fans seated behind the plate noticed the rocket with sophomore Gabby David at the plate facing an 0-2 count with no outs in the bottom of the second inning. Two pitches later David popped out and more eyes began to turn to the sky.

A long foul ball by Logan Foreman towards the foul pole in left field brought pretty much everyone else's attention to the rocket, which is when it was first mentioned on the broadcast. Foreman then hit a ball towards the first baseline on a check swing that was caught by Florida's Madison Walker for the second out of the inning. As Walker walked back to her position she pointed to to the sky to make sure everyone saw what was going on.

That's when the game was delayed so players, coaches and fans could all watch history. Weston seemed surprised by how much interest there was, but Bataille provided an explanation. "Now this is one of those things that as a DeLandite you see fairly frequently, but obviously not all the spectators here, and not all the personel on the field get to see this on a regular basis. My mother-in-law's even standing up, taking in a view of the rocket going up."

A little over a minute later action resumed and the Gators went about beating the home team 7-2. The scheduling gods really smiled on both schools when they put this game where they did because both teams also met last Wednesday in Gainsville with Florida winning 3-2.

The clip of the moment was posted on social media by Stetson and picked up by the local news as well as SportsCenter.

While seeing rockets take off is old hat for the residents of Florida's "Space Coast," this one was clearly different. Artemis II is the first crewed mission NASA is sending for a lunar flyby since 1972. Leave it to a group of college athletes to correctly recognize when it just means more.

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