The College World Series game on Sunday between No. 1 Tennessee baseball and No. 4 national seed North Carolina was delayed due to an umpire change. During the bottom of the fourth inning, home plate umpire Kellen Levy was hit by a foul ball off the bat of Tennessee left fielder Dylan Dreiling, striking his face mask. It was announced that Levy had to leave the game due to a possible concussion.
Scott Cline took over behind the plate after Levy’s departure, with Grady Smith coming in as the alternate umpire at second base. The game was paused for 17 minutes as Cline had to put on equipment before resuming officiating.
Levy had previously ejected former Tennessee outfielder Drew Gilbert during a game against Notre Dame in the 2022 Knoxville Super Regional. Gilbert was suspended for a game following his ejection for arguing about pitch calls and using foul language towards the umpires. Currently, Tennessee is ahead of North Carolina with a score of 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
If Tennessee secures a victory over North Carolina, they will advance to the CWS semifinals out of Bracket 1 with a 2-0 record. However, if they lose, they will move to the loser’s bracket and face No. 8 Florida State in an elimination game on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.
The loss would mean that North Carolina advances to Bracket 3 with a record of 0-1 and Tennessee drops out of contention for winning another NCAA championship this season.
It is unclear what happened after Cline assumed his duties as home plate umpire but it is safe to say that he continued his duties without any incident happening during his tenure behind home plate.
