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Tim Sullivan | Collisions may add fuel to rivalry

By Tim Sullivan

The rule on collisions is aimed at concussions. College baseball players are required to go low, to avoid contact with the head, to demonstrate that their intent is to reach home plate and not to dislodge brain cells.

Knees are another matter.

Kentucky first baseman Thomas Bernal discovered a fine and flawed distinction in baseball's rules of engagement Sunday night. He was ejected from Louisville's 4-1 victory over the Wildcats only half an inning after the Cardinals' Alex Chittenden flipped him with a rundown roll block.

Both plays could have qualified as "unnecessary and violent" under standard definitions, if not Section 7 of the NCAA rulebook, but only Bernal's upper-body blow was formally sanctioned by plate umpire Billy Speck.

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And though Speck's ruling was technically right, it felt wrong. It felt as if Kentucky had been penalized for what amounted to payback. It also felt as if a rivalry that is always simmering had gained a fresh reason to boil over.

Because the two teams were playing in the NCAA Tournament — Louisville's victory meaning an opportunity to host this week's super regional; Kentucky's defeat meaning elimination — the heat of the moment was mitigated by the size of the stakes. Pitchers are reluctant to exact retribution in postseason play because plunking hitters means providing the enemy with additional baserunners.

Yet judging by how the benches emptied after the first collision, and how defiantly Louisville catcher Kyle Gibson spiked the ball after absorbing Bernal's blow, hard feelings might need some time to soften.

The sequence started in the top of the seventh inning, after Louisville had padded its 1-0 lead with three additional runs, after Danny Rosenbaum's one-out smash to third baseman Max Kuhn caught Chittenden between third and home.

Chittenden succeeded in prolonging the inevitable by moving back and forth in the no-man's land between bases, forcing three throws from his slower pursuit before making his dash for the plate.

It was here that he hit Bernal at about ankle height, flipping the first baseman, who succeeded in holding on to the ball, but hit the ground hard. Looking at it live, the play looked at best borderline.

Looking at the replays, it was easy to imagine Bernal landing with a torn ligament.

Chittenden said, "I tried to dive under him or around him and I dove right into him, which wasn't the plan."

But college baseball's position on collision plays arguably left Chittenden little choice in how to proceed. Since Bernal stood between him and the plate, he was reduced to prolonging the rundown play or initiating contact in an effort to separate Bernal from the ball.

To go high would mean not only an automatic out, but automatic ejection. To go low might mean he would be declared out even if he succeeded in dislodging the ball, but would not result in him being removed from the game.

"If the defensive player blocks the base (plate) or base line with clear possession of the ball, the runner may make contact, slide into or make contact with a fielder as long as the runner is making a legitimate attempt to reach the base (plate)," Section 7 reads.

"Contact above the waist that was initiated by the base runner shall not be judged as an attempt to reach the base or plate."

The umpire has some discretion in these matters. If he decides above-the-waist contact is "flagrant or malicious," the rules require ejection. What qualifies as "flagrant" is subjective. What qualifies as "malicious" requires an assessment of intent, and explains why libel suits are so hard to win.

What's clear is that Kentucky has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. What's unclear is whether that's the end of this story.

Contact Tim Sullivan at tsullivan@courier-journal.com or (502) 582-4650. Follow @timsullivan714 on Twitter and keep up with discussions using #cjsullivan.