Throwing strikes is a tougher task in Series games

Andrew Carraway returned to the Virginia dugout Monday after 2.2 innings of relief against Cal State Fullerton. He had a message for his pitching brethren.

Small zone.

Some three hours later, LSU pitcher Louis Coleman was struggling through the first inning against Arkansas. He had a different umpire but made the same observation.

Small zone.

It's hard enough to be a pitcher at the College World Series. You've got 20,000 strangers watching you, give or take a few million on TV. You've got All-America hitters trying to drive your slider to the scoreboard.

And then there's that strike zone. Some pitchers, catchers and coaches say home-plate umpires shrink the zone in Omaha.

“Sometimes in the college game, you'll get three or four inches off the plate if you're hitting your spots with your fastball,” Carraway said. “I learned pretty quick (Monday) that we weren't getting that. They might treat it more like a pro zone. If you watch a pro game, pitchers aren't getting anything off the plate.”

Fullerton coach Dave Serrano traditionally sees the strike zone shrink as he moves through the NCAA tournament. He warned his pitchers before the CWS: Prepare yourself for smaller zones, no matter the umpire.

“That's protocol when you come to Omaha,” Serrano said. “The umpires are the best in the country and they're going to have a little bit tighter zone. They're no different than our players. They're human beings and they're in the limelight, too. So they're going to be a little tight, too.”

Through Tuesday night, there have been 73 walks in eight CWS contests, 4.6 per team per game. The eight qualifiers entering the CWS allowed an average of 3.1 walks per nine innings.

Serrano and others interviewed are quick to point out that smaller zones are no excuse for poor pitching. They don't blame umpires for losses. As long as umpires are consistent, there's little room to complain, they say.

But an umpire calling just one borderline pitch “ball” rather than “strike” can potentially swing an at-bat in the hitter's favor.

Gene McArtor, NCAA coordinator for umpiring, says each umpire may have a slightly different zone. But he doesn't see a general difference between the regular-season zone and the zone in Omaha.

The umpire's charge is interpreting the rule book, McArtor says, which states that the strike zone is “the area over home plate from the bottom of the knee caps to the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants.”

In principal, it's black and white. In practice, calling balls and strikes is a highly subjective task.

Umpire Mark Chapman worked behind the plate during Monday's Cal State Fullerton-Virginia game. He also called balls and strikes for Fullerton's super-regional opener.

Fullerton catcher Dustin Garneau noticed a difference: “He tightened the zone up a little bit.”

During the Texas-Southern Mississippi game Sunday night, the Golden Eagles walked three Longhorns with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, including the winning run. McArtor said home-plate umpire Chuck Lyon called those pitches correctly.

The eight CWS umpires are selected based upon several evaluations. During the first eight CWS games, each umpire spends one game behind the plate. Evaluations during that period, which ended Tuesday night, help determine home-plate assignments for the second half of the CWS.

There's little reason to think the walk numbers will change. Carraway and Coleman said pitchers try to nibble the edges of the plate during the CWS because of the quality of hitters.

“You can't miss over the plate,” Carraway said. “If you're going to miss, you're going to take a ball instead of a home run.”

Contact the writer:

679-9899, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

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