CWS umps can go to tape on home run calls

For now, only an umpire’s call on whether a home run really is a home run will be subject to video review at the College World Series.

Dennis Poppe, the NCAA vice president for football and baseball, said Tuesday that officials would have to think long and hard about adding other situations that could be reviewed.

Division I baseball leaders for several years have discussed using instant replay, Poppe said, but didn’t take action until after a home run was wrongly ruled a double in last year’s CWS.

“Fortunately, it didn’t impact the game,” Poppe said. “But you don’t want human error or the inability to see something to influence the game and the effort the kids put forth. You’ve got to make sure it’s as fair and square as can be.”

Umpires in the CWS, which starts Friday, will be limited to reviewing whether a batted ball has cleared the fence, gone foul or been interfered with.

“Let’s walk before we run,” Poppe said. “Let’s make sure we have down the crucial issues — and there probably is no more crucial issue than the home run, whether it’s good or bad.”

Last year in an 8-4 win against Texas, Florida’s Brian Johnson hit a ball that bounced back into play after striking the railing above the wall in right-center field. The NCAA umpire coordinator said afterward it should have been ruled a home run.

Instant replay can’t be used in the regular season or regionals because not all games are on TV, Poppe said. All super regionals are televised, but some stadiums don’t have easily accessible areas to review video.

ESPN provides more than a dozen camera angles for the CWS games, and TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha easily accommodates a review area.

Directors’ Cup:

For the eighth year in a row, Azusa (Calif.) Pacific has won the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup for NAIA schools.

The award annually honors all-around athletics excellence in NAIA and all three NCAA divisions. The Cougars’ season was highlighted by a national title in women’s indoor track and field.