NCAA Releases Statement On Controversial Home Plate Call, Anson Aroz Suspension

The NCAA released a statement on the call made in last night’s game. One of then questions many fans had was why the Utah Valley catcher was not called for obstruction.

“This would have been obstruction by the catcher had there not been a violation of the Collision Rule 8-7,” the NCAA said. “Rule 8-7 refers to flagrant or malicious contact.” 

The NCAA also dove deeper into what about Aroz’s action warranted this call to be made. 

“If the runner does not make a legal slide or make motions that show effort to avoid collision trying to reach the plate, the rule (Rule 8-7) should be enforced,” the NCAA said. 

By their own statement, if Aroz had not made “malicious contact” with the Utah Valley catcher, obstruction on the catcher would have been called and Aroz would have been called safe. The problem for Aroz and the Ducks is that the contact he made according to the NCAA essentially overrules the obstruction call, resulting in an automatic out and ejection. 

As for those wondering if the call can be appealed, the answer is no. 

“The play was carefully reviewed and there is not an appeal process for the judgement involved to apply this rule,” the NCAA said. 

The play in question was after a fly ball to left field in the bottom of the eight inning. Ducks’ outfielder Anson Aroz was attempting to tag and and score from third base. Aroz and the Utah Valley catcher collided at home plate with the ball going over the catchers head. Aroz was called safe and Oregon cut the lead down to one run. 

After a long review, the umpires determined that Aroz collided with the catcher with malicious intent and called Aroz out. This resulted in Aroz being ejected from the game and suspended for Saturday’s elimination game against Cal Poly. 

This ruling has caused an uproar from not only Oregon fans, but sports fans in general. 

In the end, the NCAA says that while the catcher was blocking the plate warranting an obstruction call, the contact Aroz made with the catcher on the slide was unnecessary. It’s a really tough pill to swallow for Oregon, as there season has come to an abrupt ending.