Tuesday night (Turchin Field) The Wave leads 4-3 over national baseball powerhouse Nicholls State in the top of the 6th, but the Colonels have the bases loaded with two out. The Nicholls batter hits a towering shot over the wall at the right foul poll. The first base umpire signals homerun ... grand slam ... Nicholls goes up 7-4. But wait, TU coach Rick Jones, who had a much better view of the play from his 45 degree angle in the TU dugout, comes storming out of the dugout to protest the call. The plate umpire joins the discussion. The plate umpire, who was even further away from the play, says the ball went foul. The TU right fielder, who was at the wall, later said he couldn't tell if it was fair or foul. Hmmmm. Bottom line: it is ruled foul. The Nicholls State coach is outraged and goes out to argue the reversal. He is promptly ejected. But as Coach Jones is quoted as saying, "The important thing is that they got the call right." The batter returns to the plate to resume his at-bat with the count at 1-2. ON THE VERY NEXT PITCH is hit on the hand. Runner scores and its 4-4. Not so, the home plate umpire rules that the batter did not attempt to get out of the way of trhe pitch. He rules the pitch a ball. The batter protests and is promptly ejected. New batter is brought in to finish his at-bat. He quickly grounds out to second. Inning over ... another clutch pitching peformance ... TU still up 4-3. Three innings later its still 4-3. The Wave overgoes adversity to win its 20th straight at home. Gotta luv 'um. Life is good ... I'm busting my buttons with pride!
