Ou @ lsu
 

Watching this game on ESPN U. Pitchers duel.

So far, I have noticed 2 things that would bother me as a UIC.

One is, and I know this is NCAA, but U1 is so close to 1B with a runner on, if he fell down, he would cover the base with his waist.

Second is the uniforms just look "dingy". Shirts are blue, but extremely light in tone

LSU hitter just blasted a ball to CF for a HR. U1 covers the plate and apparently the runner missed the plate. He just stood there at the plate looking around like he missed the runner scoring. The
team celebrated until the coach told her to go back and touch the plate.

PU is having a nice game. Lots of hustle

NCAA mechanic is now 6-10. In the past, they stressed the 6' as the preferred end of that scale (was 6-9, but you know how a new regime has to make a change .......).

Setting up at 6 feet makes me feel like I could reach out and touch the runner. I don't like it. I work as far back as I can while still being "tight" to the base...tough to explain in words, easy to do on the field.

First off, how TF do you miss the plate on a HR? (facepalm).....

More importantly, Irish, if you were UIC, do you feel that's the proper mechanic/body language in that case? I do: I think it demonstrates we are attentive and alert without giving any advantage to either team. Other blues I have worked with have disagreed, saying we should treat it "normally" then make the correct call on appeal.

I do know what you mean and agree.

No, I don't. Once the player, and for that matter the entire team, moved away from the plate, all the umpires should have moved to return to their respective position to continue play just as you would on any other play. IMO, in this case, the umpire did not do that.

Tried to watch it in replay but my computer kept jamming up. I heard several IP's were called, and I did see the first one but it froze before I could ever hear what the explanation may have been for the call. I didnt see an obvious leap, the only thing I noticed was the LSU pitcher in warmups did not appear to have her foot on top of the pitching plate. Got any idea what they were calling?

Believe it or not, I once had: bases loaded, ball four on the batter, runner coming from 3rd MISSED HOME PLATE and went directly into the dugout. Thankfully, I (plate umpire) was apparently the only one who saw it and there was no appeal.

Clean your TV. :p :)

The IP was a leap. The umpire did a good job of getting it.

I'm comfortable being as close as possible without interfering. 6 feet from 1st base is plenty enough for me.