GREENVILLE, N.C.—Virginia is enjoying a comfortable 7-2 lead after three innings, but the margin could have been bigger if not for a botched call in the top of the third. The Cavaliers had runners on first and second with no outs, and Phil Gosselin hit a wind-blown pop-up halfway between home plate and first base. East Carolina first baseman John Wooten could not make the catch, and the ball landed a foot or two in fair territory, then kicked foul. The infield fly rule was invoked, and Gosselin was called out. UVa. coach Brian O'Connor came out to argue the call, to no avail, of course.

But here in the press box, we checked the rule book. Section 47 says, "If a declared infield fly becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul."

By my interpretation, that means the home-plate umpire missed the call—though it's not a play you see very often. ECU reliever Tyler Joyner retired the next hitter, Danny Hultzen, on a foul pop-up, then hit Dan Grovat to load the bases. But he wriggled out of the jam by getting Steven Proscia to fly out to center field.