It was a strange day for USF softball. After splitting the double header the day before, the ladies began the final game of the season today at 11 AM, but in the second inning, the team was packing up the bus and heading home. What on earth?
The information is sketchy at this point, but according to an official statement released from USF Athletics, the team decided to forfeit the game due to concerns over safety and welfare of players.
This is truly a very odd move for a team that was battling for position in the Big East tournament. The first reports were the team left due to officiating, but this rumor has been dismissed. According to our friends over at Voodoo 5 who overheard a fan at the game stating "someone overheard the DePaul coach threatening to hit the USF players." If this is the case (1 player was hit yesterday for USF, 4 got plunked for DePaul, really, are we retaliating now?) something has to be done to the DePaul coach for this pathetic excuse of coaching.
The team also left during a time out that was called during Sara Nevins pitch. She was in the middle of her delivery before the DePaul coach called a time out, something that is not proper and simply childish, so this may have been the reason as well.
No one is sure what actually happened during the game and neither athletic program is stating what happened, but the Big East conference will make sure to look through the information and find out what happened.
With the forfeit, the Bulls finish the regular season at 33-20 (13-5) and are now the 4th seed entering the Big East tournament. This is a strange game and the facts are hard to come by. The moment anything breaks or new information comes out, Bull Rush will bring you the latest.
There was more to this story than what anyone is saying. You're only getting the one side, so obviously they would only share their side. Having been there, I can personally say that the game was very heated from the beginning with the USF coach being noticeably irritated at several calls and was threatened to be thrown out by the umps in the 1st inning.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I HIGHLY doubt Lenti, a coach with over 29 years of experience, would make or even suggest that one of his girls hit an opposing player. He had no legitimate reason to want to do that and he is just not that type of coach or man.
Also, you mention how 4 USF players were hit yesterday as if that proves this theory, but you fail to mention that more than one DePaul player was hit yesterday as well - one was on the ground for a few minutes before getting up to go to first. Trust me, wild pitches and getting hit comes with softball and the fact that pitches can easily go wild or the weather can be bad, NOT because a pitch being intentionally thrown. I doubt any self-respecting athlete in the Big East would do this - especially not the girls of DePaul who have always proven that they were good girls who took the game seriously and who wanted things to be fair.
Regardless of your thoughts or loyalties, a lot of things could've been done better by BOTH sides in this situation. Pointing fingers at DePaul does nothing to make things better especially when you don't have the entire story. Walking out only hurts your players who have worked hard all year - both teams should've stayed and worked things out with the umpires instead of letting this ridiculous "he said she said" go on.
Four DePaul batters were hit Saturday. One USF batter was hit. Where are you getting your numbers from?
ReplyDeleteNumbers were crossed up there, but the fact is, if the rumors on Lenti are true, its a disgrace to sports. Something happened here, beyond "safety of players."
ReplyDeleteYoure right that something else happened - your coached screwed his team over and showed them that quitting is a viable option instead of teaching them how to be strong women who fight for what they believe in. This could've been solved on the field, but USF chose to do the cowardly thing and walk away without giving explanation which is why everyone is so confused with this situation. If everything is so black and white as you USF fans are claiming it to be, then why have no actions been taken by the umpires and why didn't your coach push harder to get the umps on their side if the girl really heard what she claims she heard? At the end of the day, no one was in serious danger because no pitcher in their right mind would risk their athletic integrity just to spite another team and no coach, especially not one with as many seasons under his belt as Lenti, would risk their integrity for the same thing.
ReplyDeleteYou talk on your twitter about Depaul being a disgrace and how they deserve to be booted from the Big East, but the way you and all the other USF fans that are tweeting about this shows that you aren't prepared to talk about this maturely and figure out what really happened. Taking to your twitter to make comments about DePaul's class, athletic or academic standards is NOT a way to prove you or your team are in the right and is an unfair hit to a school with a good reputation.
DePaul coach commented saying "we were beating them on the field, that had something to do with it," shows no class or reasoning to the issue and questions "toughness" in our girls, who does that? A classless coach.
ReplyDeleteThey can tweet whatever they want and DePaul has to business being in the Big East. When was the last time a DePaul team, besides softball, relevant in anything?
Women's basketball just made it to the Sweet Sixteen and has been to the NCAA tournament 8 or 9 consecutive times. I'd say that's pretty relevant. Men's and women's soccer have also been at the top of the Big East since we joined - I'd say we deserve to be there.
ReplyDeleteAnd how does his comment show no class? More happened than just the alleged incident and a lot of it had to do with the fact that this three game series was wearing on everyone and this is the type of comment any coach would say after a game. USF beat DePaul in the first game, and then the second game was a long game due to an hour long rain delay with cold temperatures. All those delays and weather conditions, along with the fact that these teams were fighting for top seeds in the Big East Tournament, adds to the emotion of the game and lead to this incident. Besides, these coaches have a long, tumultuous history together and things have happened on both sides.
Also, youre missing an important part from that article: "The tensions between both teams go back to Saturday's doubleheader, which saw four Blue Demons get hit by pitches and a USF player bump DePaul assistant coach Nancy Evans, and even further back. Lenti said that the Bulls purposely threw at a former DePaul player a few years ago."
And yeah, they can tweet whatever they want, but you're on here claiming DePaul has no class while your USF fans have taken to Twitter and posted useless comments about DePaul's academic integrity which has NO relevance to this issue.
This is not as black and white as you would like it to be and calling for DePaul to be booted from the Big East is ridiculous and undermines the hard work that all DePaul's athletes have put in.
For the coach to open his mouth and talk about how tough the team is and how they couldn't play with DePaul on the field shows no sportsmanship, especially before the Big East even issues a statement, class act DePaul. Plus being relevant in 3 sports does not constitute being in the Conference at all.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it does constitute us being in the conference when those are three of our biggest sports. Tennis, golf and track have also excelled, but those aren't big money sports. Sorry we don't have enough room for a football team.
ReplyDeleteIt shows no sportsmanship to walk off the field either, but you're defending that action. The teams should've used the umps and figured out the issues instead of continuing this "he said she said" business. There is absolutely no proof or reason that Lenti would do that, so I wouldn't jump the gun just yet. The entire incident happened over the course of two minutes - USF left the field leaving everyone confused. The umpires tried their best to calm the situation and talk to both coaches, but USF had already left instead of choosing to stay and get answers. If they truly felt slighted, they should've stayed and stuck it to DePaul by proving that their girl was telling the truth or proven it on the scoreboard instead of running away from the issue. Everyone on the field was an adult, yet nothing was handled in a mature manner by either side. No one was in danger either because no pitcher is dumb enough to purposefully hit a girl.
Having personally been at the game and witnessed the entire situation, it definitely was not one sided - both teams have actions to answer for and both teams fans need to realize that.
Before using the word Pathetic, be there to hear what happened. There was no such comment about the DePaul coach throwing at anyone. It was a conversation between the Coach and the Umpire overheard by the Thirdbaseman for USF, her reply to a conversation she was not involved with was "F-Y" to the DePaul Coach. Why is this not brought to light.
ReplyDeleteSafety Issues were BS, the USF Coach threatened to Forfiet, then didn't have the guts to call it off, so they walked. Now they play a tougher oppanent in the first round, risking even a shot at making the NCAA Tournament.
Shame of USF, Shame on the Thirdbaseman who overreacted to soomething she heard out of context.
The comment between the umpire and coach conerned a few years ago, when a USF Player told a DePaul player that her coach told the pitcher to hit the DePaul player on purpose.
It is wrong for the DePaul Coach to be getting greef on-line for something that was only a conversation about the past with of all people, an umpire!
I was at the game!
Welcome to the conversation between two parents. One of a DePaul student athlete, and one of a USF student athlete. Besides you nobody else really cares whether a couple girls were throwing balls at each other. USF just got up and left. Pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteSounds like both sides needed to grow up and realize that they were playing a game in college. Granted, it was an important one.
ReplyDeleteHowever, taking all this time to bicker back and forth about a softball game is ludicrous. Meanwhile, people in this country are trying to put their lives together while the Mississippi River has either taken their homes or is threatening to take it.
O' Doyle Rules!
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