The Liberty Flames were forced to forfeit a college baseball game after just one pitch on Saturday.
Liberty forfeited the game after accidentally leaving the starting pitcher off the roster that was submitted for Saturday’s doubleheader against Jacksonville State.
Ben Blair was designated to take the mound for the first game of the doubleheader, but his name was not included on the Flames’ 27-man roster. Jacksonville State head coach Steve Bieser noticed the oversight, and after Blair’s first pitch of the game on Saturday, informed the umpiring crew that Liberty used an ineligible pitcher. Because of the Conference USA’s rules on teams using ineligible players, Liberty forfeited the game, which counted as a 9–0 defeat.
“Going into our Friday game, the first thing I do is I want to know what their 27-man roster is so that I can make plans for the series,” Bieser said, via the Anniston Star. “I realized that a guy that they told us that they were going to start was not on the roster. When I saw him out on the mound, I knew that it wasn’t O.K. to not be on the roster and walk out and throw a first pitch. I wasn’t 100% on the verdict, whether the next pitcher comes in and you keep going or if Conference USA has a rule that it’s an automatic forfeit.”
Liberty described the roster mishap as a “clerical error,” per Bryson Gordon of The News & Advance.
The first game of the doubleheader was over after just one pitch, and Jacksonville State was able to secure a victory in the second game in order to clinch a series win against Liberty.
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