A 21-inning college baseball marathon didn’t end with a walk-off homer or a game-saving strikeout. It ended with an umpire’s signal that left one team celebrating and the other in stunned silence.

Controversial balk calls and fans roasting the umpires are now common in MLB. However, after Saturday, college baseball leaped even ahead of the major league. While the controversial balk calls haven’t become a deciding factor in MLB yet, it just ended a historic college baseball game, oddly.

The umpires are at the receiving end, as fans can’t accept the ending of the longest college baseball game in Summit League history. Pitchers stood still, batters started celebrating, and social media was flooded with reactions against the umpires.

“And that’s the way the longest game in Summit League history ends- on a controversial balk. 21 college baseball innings played, all for a walk-off balk,” Awful Announcing shares via X.

The 21-inning game started on Friday and ended on Saturday between Northern Colorado and the University of St. Thomas.

After playing for 10 innings on Friday, the game was called off due to poor daylight and was resumed on Saturday, when another 11 innings were played.

At the 21st inning, St. Thomas and the Bears were tied at 7-7.

St. Thomas was having all bases loaded and two outs. The Bears’ veteran Nolan Kemp was on the mound. It was just one out away for the 22nd inning to start.

But his delay in throwing the pitch created all the confusion.

The footage shows that he moved his left leg a bit after coming set, but didn’t throw the pitch.

Although there was no false throw or last moment pick-off attempt, home plate umpire Lance Vaughn called the delay a violation and hence a balk.

St. Thomas got a free walk, and their third base runner covered the home plate. 1 run added, and there comes the brutal end of the 21-inning marathon. While the Tommies players started their winning huddle, the Bears stood still, yet to recover from what just happened.

While in most cases in MLB, we saw a pick-off attempt called a balk, nothing as such happened this time.

The historic game witnessed a combined show of nine pitchers. They threw a total of 712 pitches across 21 innings, including 33 SOs and 27 walks. The game finished as the eighth-longest game in Division 1 baseball history.

But with all such stats covered in two days, the ending was not what fans expected.

Umpires face baseball fans’ wrath for the controversial call

Fans are yet to discover how that delayed pitch was called a balk. “Terrible call,” one fan remarked. The updated balk call rules state that if the pitcher starts any movement that is part of their delivery to the plate, they must complete the pitch. Stopping mid-motion is a balk. Also, a pitcher cannot fake a throw to first base. Neither of these happened on Saturday.

There was a subtle lift seen in Kemp’s left leg, and he also took his hand behind him, hinting at a throw, but he didn’t move. “I see nothing,” another fan added.

“Honestly, after 21 innings, the players probably did that on purpose just so they could finally go home and sleep,” one user speculated, taking into account the brutal grind!

“After 21 innings, the umps just wanted to go home. There was no balk there,” another added.

Playing 21 innings in two days was not a joke, but these historic games also deserve a historic ending. While there may be a case of hurry among all involved in the game, a walk-off balk could be the worst option available. However, a balk call is not always made in a hurry. Yesterday, the Royals manager got ejected in the first 1st inning for arguing with the ump about a balk call.

It’s more about what the home plate umpire noticed at that very moment. A demand for a review like ABS could be made to improve the accuracy.

“This is the worst call I have ever f—— seen,” another wrote. While controversial balk calls are a part of college baseball or MLB, it’s getting attention due to its historic value. The fans surely expected a better and more dramatic end to the 21-inning marathon. But again, we don’t know what the home plate umpire noticed at the mound.

College baseball might just have started the discussion to have a review system for balk calls, too.