Ump Show Unfolds After Blatant Missed Strikeout Leads To Home Run That Cost Alabama Super Regional Win

Wake Forest will play for a College World Series bid on Sunday afternoon against Alabama. The Demon Deacons won the first game of a three-game Super Regional on Saturday to put themselves in the driver's seat for Game Two.

If they win, they advance. If they lose, they will play a game three.

As for the Crimson Tide, they must win each of the next two games to advance. The nation's No. 16-seed traveled to Winston-Salem and found itself on the wrong end of a bad call that directly impacted the outcome of Game One.

No. 1 Wake Forest beat No. 16 Alabama 5-4.

By one run.

The controversy went down with the score tied at three with two outs in the fifth inning.

Sophomore designated hitter Danny Corona was at the plate for the Demon Deacons. He had two strikes against him when Crimson Tide sophomore Luke Holman threw a pitch out of the zone.

It sure looked like Corona swung. It's hard to argue that he didn't.

His bat sure appeared to cross the zone from checked swing to strike.

Danny Corona swung. (Still image courtesy: ESPN)

However, it was ruled that Corona did not swing. He was given a do-over, in a sense.

And with a 1-2 count, Corona took the very next pitch deep for a solo home run. Wake took a 4-3 lead.

Third base umpire Patrick Riley blew the call. Corona should have struck out. He agrees.

I for sure swang at that.

Crimson Tide interim head coach Jason Jackson agreed with Corona's self-assessment. To his credit, he was overly fair to the umpiring staff. Jackson had every right to lose his mind, but he is more focused on winning the next one. What's done is done.

Check swings are tough. Those guys got a tough job on that. From where we're at in the dugout, obviously we thought it was strike three. It's an emotional game. That's a big swing — the next guy hits a home run. I thought he went but that's always a tough call for umpires.

On the other side, Alabama hitting coach Matt Reida was pissed. Instead of striking out, Corona got a second chance and hit a one-run dinger that ultimately separated the two sides in the final score.

Obviously, one single run does not win or lose a game. The Crimson Tide could have simply scored more runs and won. But... one single run played a huge role in the result on Saturday.

Reida lost his mind from the dugout. Riley, the umpire, didn't like Reida's displeasure and threw him out of the game.

Tough sequence for Matt Reida. He missed the call and then made it about himself with the ejection. Total ump show.