Here’s dirt in your eye. Freak pitch strikes airborne clod, and Oregon softball catcher pays price

OKLAHOMA CITY AP As Oregon s catcher Emma Cox knows All-American Lyndsey Grein throws lots of filthy pitches Grein outdid herself Friday night at the Women s College World Series when she kicked up a clod of dirt with her cleats during her pitching motion against Mississippi The clod was in the air when it was struck by the ball emerging it into pieces The -mph pitch ended up in Cox s glove and one of those dirt chunks in her eyes She promptly came out of her crouch and went to her knees reaching for her eyes through her mask She was able to stay in the competition I thought it was dirt from my glove that must have hit me Cox disclosed in an interview with an Oregon in-house reporter Saturday And I was like OK whatever And then the umpire was like No it was a bug that flew into it and then the ball hit you or the bug hit you in the face The dirt-in-the-eye pitch was one of those freak moments that allegedly couldn t be repeated akin to Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch in I didn t believe it until I saw the video Cox commented in the interview The Ducks won - in innings and will play Oklahoma on Sunday in an elimination battle AP college sports https apnews com hub college-sports Source