Hawaii catcher Dallas Duarte got rung up on a pitch clock violation in a blowout loss to Long Beach State, and things spiraled fast. Down 4-0 in the seventh, Duarte took his time getting set between pitches, repeatedly stepping out of the box to adjust his gear and look to the dugout. College baseball now uses a 20-second pitch clock, and with fewer than five seconds remaining, Duarte still wasn’t ready. The ump hit him with a timing violation—strike three.
Hawaii’s manager ran out to argue, claiming there should’ve been a warning. The ump wasn’t having it and tossed the coach after a brief delay as the manager tried to physically block the ejection. Under the new rules, college umpires don’t need to issue warnings before timing-related ejections, especially if the coach argues. The whole moment showed just how tightly some umps are sticking to the rulebook this season.
Duarte’s week didn’t get better. In a game against UC Irvine, he got tossed again in the ninth inning after what looked like a borderline ball four call. He turned and said something to the ump, who quickly ejected him. It didn’t seem like anything out of line, but the ump didn’t hesitate. Later, the runner Duarte walked was picked off almost immediately. The dugout yelled, “Ball don’t lie,” but Irvine hit a home run the next pitch. Bad timing all around for Hawaii and Duarte.