Indiana State held an 11-7 lead over Iowa in the bottom of the seventh. The batter stepped in and took a few pitches, then hammered a fastball deep to left. He thought he got all of it. The left fielder tracked it, timed his jump, and came down holding the ball, showing it off to the batter like a trophy. The batter turned, head down, walking back to the dugout thinking he just missed a home run. His teammates started yelling at him to stop. The catch was a fake. The left fielder had acted like he caught it but didn’t. The ump eventually joined in and confirmed it was a home run. The batter jogged the bases, still a little stunned. The left fielder smirked but knew he may have gone too far. Maybe his own pitcher thought he actually caught it too. It was a moment of gamesmanship, and it almost worked. But in the end, the batter got credit for the homer and Iowa picked up a couple more runs.
