Running into the catcher - thrown out of the park

[crumii]

Hey,

We had a game today where the baserunner rounded 3rd heading home. The catcher did not have the ball, but was standing on home plate awaiting a possible throw. The baserunner mowed over the catcher, who never had possesion of the ball. The throw did come, but was high and uncatchable. It got there about the time the runner did.

The ump called the runner out and immediately threw him out of the game. First of all, should the runner have been out since the catcher was in the basepath without the ball? Second, is there a rule that says the ump HAS to throw the runner out of the game after a homeplate collision...assuming that the runner was at fault?

Thanks...