IRVINE -- Fresno State is down 2-0 after a home run by San Diego State freshman Brandon Meredith in the first inning. I believe it was a curveball from Bulldogs starter Matt Morse that went line-drive home run over the left field wall. Morse got out of more trouble when Tom Mendonca turned his own double play at third, then throwing to first. Morse then settled down in the second, and is now in a wee bit of trouble in the third. More to come on that.
The news, though, was the weird third inning, which we are currently in. Fresno State had a runner on first, Danny Muno, who had singled to right. There was one out. The next pitch was high and inside to Dusty Robinson, who didn't swing, but there was a loud sound, as if it had hit something hard, and the ball rolled toward first. Robinson didn't really react in pain, but didn't run either, and so the Aztecs touched first and eventually tagged out Muno in a rundown that ended the inning.
What followed was a long delay where Muno stayed on first and no one from the Fresno State dugout moved to go out to the field. Coach Mike Batesole walked out and looked at Robinson's arm and then showed it to the umpire. You don't see that every day. And then instead of making a ruling, or talking to the other umps, the home plate umpire just sort of discussed with with him for a few minutes. Then finally he went and talked to the other three umps who talked for quite a while. Finally, the home plate umpire came back to Batesole and they just kept talking. It wasn't heated at all, or didn't appear to be.
Finally, the third base umpire came over and told them to get the game moving. I'm convinced we'd still be watching a polite conversation if he hadn't done that. Apparently, Batesole lost the argument because he walked back to the dugout and his players ran onto the field for the bottom of the third. There's someone who's supposed to be getting an explanation from the umpires for us up here on press row, but no word yet. I've gotten a couple emails already saying that on TV it appeared to be a bad call. We do not have the luxury of TV, we are in a tent sort of thing on the third-base side, and since Robinson is right-handed, we were blocked off.
Robinson is kind of a tough guy and if he did get hit, I think his reaction may have fooled the umpire. He didn't fall down or even shake his arm. He just sort of strolled out of the batter's box. He didn't run toward first, as if it had hit the bat, or even jogged toward first, as if he'd been hit. He just sort of stood there. It was strange. I was kind of hoping they'd reverse the call so I could see if San Diego State coach Tony Gwynn would get upset. I can't ever remember that guy being mad about anything.
Morse got out of trouble in the third, so we're off to the fourth inning, 2-0 San Diego State.
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