Home plate umpire suspended after egregious game-ending strike call

It’s 1, 2, 3 strikes you’re out and for one umpire, the quicker you get to go home.

Two shocking strike call concluded a college baseball game between New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State on Friday night, and the plate umpire Reggie Drummer has since been suspended indefinitely, the Southland Conference announced.

In the ninth inning with two outs and trailing by four runs, Mississippi Valley State left fielder Davon Mims was up to bat with a 1-1 count when Drummer called two questionable strikes, especially the second which sank right to left off the plate.

“After a thorough review of the New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State baseball contest on March 10, 2023, the Southland Conference confirmed the home plate umpire’s conduct and actions were deemed detrimental to the Conference and in violation of Section 3 Character and Conduct of the CCA Mechanics Manual for Baseball,” the conference said in a statement on Saturday.

Mims visibly disagreed with the first call, jumping around in frustration and pointing his bat where he believed the pitch fell, but he composed himself to get back in the batter’s box.

Following the second and final call of the game, Mims took off his helmet and started to follow Drummer away from the field, who ignored Mims, before he was stopped by the New Orleans catcher.

After cooling off for a few moments, Mim’s teammate appeared to walk over and help guide him to the dugout.

“That’s down … Oh my gosh, wow,” an announcer on the ESPN+ broadcast said. “He got rung up on ball two, and the game is over. Oh my goodness, that is horrific.”

New Orleans walked away with the win 7-3 over Mississippi, whose three-game win streak was snapped.