Eduardo Perez calls out Murray State situational hitting vs. UCLA, Ben McDonald pushes back

In the eighth inning of Saturday’s College World Series matchup against UCLA, Murray State was threatening. The Racers had a runner on third with one out as Conner Cunningham stepped to the plate.

With a 3-1 count, he grounded to second, which scored the runner to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-4 – which held as the final as Murray State failed to score again. However, ESPN broadcasters Eduardo Perez and Ben McDonald disagreed about the approach in that situation.

Perez argued Cunningham shouldn’t have tried to swing at the pitch due to his struggles hitting breaking balls. McDonald, however, argued pitcher August Souza was likely anticipating Cunningham’s aggressiveness. By taking the first pitch, the count would no longer be a hitter’s count.

“I’m feeding off your aggression,” McDonald said. “It’s a 3-1 count, you’re expecting you’re getting a fastball. But we know exactly what Souza was going to do. He was going to spin breaking balls in there. … But now, the count’s 3-2. So at some point, you’ve still got to hit the breaking ball and he’s already proven to you he’s going to throw the slider and he’s going to throw it for strikes.”

Perez’s argument stemmed from the fact Cunningham was batting ninth and, therefore, likely struggled with the breaking ball. But Jonathan Hogart and his .344 batting average were waiting on deck and would represent the go-ahead run if he stepped to the plate with two runners on. That’s why he said Cunningham should have taken the pitch instead of risking a rally-killing groundout.

“First of all, when you give him the 3-1 count, one, how do you know he’s going to throw a strike and land at 3-2?” Perez said. “You’re already in a hitter’s count. I get that. But you’re hitting ninth for a reason and your best hitter is on deck.

“The score says that that runner needs to get on first. [You] need him to throw strikes not once, but twice.”

Ben McDonald: ‘He wasn’t gonna walk’

Looking back at the previous sequence, McDonald said it was clear Souza was in a groove. Eight of his previous 10 pitches were strikes, and Murray State should have known from its scout prep he throws breaking balls most of the time. He would’ve called a timeout to go over the situation.

“He proved to you, he threw eight out of 10 for strikes – and numbers don’t lie. People do,” McDonald said. “If you look at the scouting report, it says he’s going to throw that breaking ball 55% of the time. That’s all he has thrown.

“What I would’ve done as a coach is walk out, call an offensive timeout and I’d say, ‘Listen, it’s a 3-1 count. You’re sitting on a breaking ball 3-1. That’s the only pitch you’re swinging at.'”

Perez quickly responded and said he wouldn’t do that considering Cunningham’s swing path. He also went back to the fact he sat at the bottom of the order, further saying that shows he has trouble with hitting breaking balls. Perez would prefer the hitter go down 3-2 in that case instead of roll over on the pitch, hit a ground ball and bring the leadoff hitter up with no one on base.

McDonald argued Perez would be hoping for a walk in that situation. Because Souza was throwing strikes, McDonald thought he’d continue to go at Cunningham – therefore taking a walk out of the conversation.

“Listen, if you can’t hit a breaking ball, I’m gonna keep throwing it,” McDonald said. “You’re gonna have to show me you’re gonna have to hit it.

“What you’re saying is you’re hoping he walks. He wasn’t gonna walk. … He wasn’t gonna give you a chance to walk.”