Wichita State - Fullerton: Controversy

By Jeffrey Lutz - May 13, 2007

WSU caught a break in the top of the eighth. Fullerton, trailing 7-0 but trying to mount a rally, had runners on first and second with nobody out. No. 2 hitter Josh Fellhauer slapped one down the line. It appeared to kick up chalk, but home plate umpire Ken McQueen called it foul.

The run probably doesn't score from first, but the Titans can make it 7-1 there and continue to threaten with the middle of the order coming up. It would have been much better than the alternative, which turned out being Fellhauer grounding into a double play on the next pitch. Two pitches after that was a fly ball to right field to end the inning. Now the Shockers have three outs to go for a win, and Noah Booth is warming up. Game (probably) over.

The win may come with a price, however. Right fielder Matt Brown, the Shockers' best all-around player, left the game in the third. We'll have to wait until after the game to figure out why, but Brown has been dealing with bad hamstrings for a while, and we suspect that is the culprit. Losing Brown hasn't hurt today, as Ryan Jones doubled off the wall in his first at-bat. But WSU won't be able to do much damage in the postseason without him.

Meanwhile, the Shockers are looking to put it further out of reach. They have the first two runners on in the bottom of the eighth with the top of the order coming up. WSU is doing a good job of removing the doubt from this one. Since putting up four in the second inning, they've continued to add on while getting some beautiful pitching.