Softball: Amid controversy, LSU defeats UL to capture regional crown

Kevin Foote, The Advertiser, May 23, 2017

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Leave it to the UL vs. LSU softball rivalry to have a little controversy.

When Tigers’ designated player Sydney Springfield hit a long fly ball down the leftfield line with one out and one on in the fourth inning leading 2-1, the home plate umpire ruled it fair. And the fair-or-foul ruling will obviously be debated for years to come.

The two-run homer gave the Tigers a four-run lead, and the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional nailbiter quickly took a different turn.

The LSU winning celebration was unofficially under way and All-American pitcher Carley Hoover put her stamp on it by securing the Tigers’ 5-1 home win over the Ragin’ Cajuns on Monday at Tiger Park.

"The call didn’t affect the outcome of the game," UL coach Michael Lotief said. "Human error is part of the game. If it’s right, it’s right. If it’s wrong, they still beat us. LSU is the regional champion."

But while Lotief refused to blame the controversial ruling for the game’s outcome, he also used the platform to fight for an issue he strongly believed in.

All the way from the Regional to the World Series, the NCAA uses three umpires. Lotief said even the Sun Belt Conference uses four umpires for its tournament. He also joked that the Little League World Series uses six umpires and NCAA College World Series only uses three.

"We pay for a fourth umpire to be here and he’s sitting in the stands," Lotief said. "Put him on the field. It would help the integrity of the game, and it would give more opportunities to female umpires.

"I’ve been fighting for this for six years and I haven’t been able to get any traction."

Lotief said the college coaches are split on the issue and the umpires are "100 percent against it" because it would complicate their rotations.

Lotief also revealed he’s known the home plate umpire "for my entire life," so he has no doubt that he called what he saw. His point, and it’s a very good one, is that if there was an umpire in short leftfield, he or she would have obviously have a better view.

"I was in the dugout, so surely I didn’t see it any better than he (umpire) did," Lotief said.

UL was the last chance to avoid a complete 16-regional sweep by the No. 1 seeds.

That is not a good development for Division I college softball. If that really becomes a trend, that puts far too much power in the hands of the selection committee, which completely has no idea of the RPI or what to do with it.