Softball On SI

OU Softball Goes Viral After Controversial Call Shifts Momentum

The Sooners went on to win the game 7-5.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Oklahoma's Abby Dayton was at the center of a controversial call at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Oklahoma's Abby Dayton was at the center of a controversial call at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. | Peyton Martin/University of Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners were at the center of a controversial call at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and it has gone viral for the wrong reason.

In a game against the California Golden Bears on Saturday, the Sooners found themselves trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning when Abby Dayton ignited a rally with an atrocious call at first base.

With runners on first and second, Dayton hit a ground ball to Cal first baseman Anya German. German fielded the ball cleanly, straddled the baseline and appeared to tag Dayton. German then threw the ball to second baseman Anaya Togia who was covering the bag. Dayton was called safe despite appearing to be tagged out and thrown out at first base.

The umpires gathered for a conference after the play and determined that Dayton was safe at first base. Coincidentally, the tournament doesn't provide video replay review onsite.

Social Media Reaction

The clip showing the play in its entirety has been seen more than 1.7 million times on X, has been shared 97 times, and has accumulated comments of all kinds.

X user named Murphdetroit, posted a screenshot of the stream with Dayton and first base coach Falepolima Steele, formerly Aviu, both extending their arms for a safe call long before reaching first base.

Sydney Supple, the color analyst for the game, took to social media after the clip was posted.

"This play is getting a lot of attention what are people’s thoughts?" she asked.

"I will say it’s a hard job for these umpires to have no reviews. Where as the broadcaster on this game, I got to see unlimited looks."

Kyle Huesmann of On3 shared the post from FloCollegeSB with the caption, "A player has never been more out at first base."

KFryyy24 didn't hold back her opinion.

"first baseman's nightmare"... Why? Because it proved that Oklahoma just somehow got away with their runner being tagged out, then out of the base path, then thrown out all on the same play, and then still called safe????? That's an embarrassingly horrible call."

OU Rallies to Beat Cal

After Dayton was called safe, Oklahoma had the bases loaded with nobody out. The Sooners went on to score five runs and win the game.

Kasidi Pickering drew a bases-loaded walk, and Ella Parker reached on a fielding error, tying the game. OU took the lead on a Kendall Wells' bases-loaded walk and added two more on a McEnroe-Marinas sac fly and Minor infield single.

Cal got a run back in the bottom of the seventh but the next three batters were retired in order to end the game.

Sydney Berzon earned the win for OU, pitching 4.2 innings and only allowing one earned run on two hits. She struck out four.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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