College baseball game canceled in fourth inning due to ‘unplayable sod conditions’

A midweek college baseball game failed to make it past the fourth inning on Tuesday due to “unplayable sod conditions.” 

The Ole Miss Rebels and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles played Tuesday night at Trustmark Park, home to the Mississippi Braves, the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Ole Miss pitcher Brayden Jones stumbled while trying to get to a baseball after a Southern Miss bunt attempt. 

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The crew chief met with both head coaches, where the decision was made to call the game. 

“Tuesday night’s baseball game between Ole Miss and Southern Miss at Trustmark Park was called in the bottom of the fourth due to unplayable sod conditions,” Ole Miss baseball said on its website.

“The umpires called the game for player safety after the several instances of sod being reset during the game.”

According to the Twitter account for the Mississippi Braves, the infield playing surface was being replaced as of March 14. 

The game will not be made up due to scheduling conflicts with both schools. 

“It’s the right thing,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. “It’s disappointing, obviously, for both teams to come all this way, to get this deep into the game, have this many fans here and not play. So, obviously, there’s a lot of disappointment around for everybody. But at the end of the day, it’s the right thing. Nobody wants to lose a player midseason to bad field conditions.”

The Golden Eagles were leading 2-1 when the game was called, but due to the contest failing to reach five innings, the game resulted in a no-contest. 

“It’s a bummer. Both teams were really competing tonight,” Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry said about the field conditions, according to WLBT 3. “It was pretty evident that this thing could get bad… and we both have a lot of season, and certainly don’t need to get someone hurt because of that.”