Was the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team robbed by an improper homerun call?

The Kentucky Kentucky Wildcat Baseball team had a record breaking season and arguably the best season in their history.  It all came to an end last night with a 3-2 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes in the Gary, IN regional final.  Last night’s game was a pitchers duel until the top of the eight inning when Golden State’s Evan Campbell hit a three run HR to give KSU a 3-0 lead and the eventual winning margin.  But controversy followed.  Was it really a home run? 

Brian Milan, a sports anchor for WKYT-TV in Lexington, was filming the game Sunday night. Because the game wasn’t televised, Milam was the only videographer shooting footage from the game. He captured it expertly, and he allowed members of the media to watch the film.

Inspecting the clip in both real-time and in single frames, it’s only then made clear that the ball hit the guard rail right on the yellow line, ricocheted downward and bounced off the top of the wall, high up in the air and eventually into Flynn’s glove. The ball never left the stadium, fulfilling Katzenmeier’s stated requirement for a ball in play as opposed to a ball hit for a home run.

Gary Henderson’s post game comments threw 1st base umpire Ken Durham under the bus and said that he blew three calls in the game.  Regardless, a loss is a loss and the Cats will not be advancing. It’s just a shame that the officials have to end this amazing run of a season.