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ESPN broadcast booth hit with foul ball at Women's College World Series

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•06/03/23
ESPN Broadcast Booth
Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Beth Mowins work the ESPN broadcast booth at the 2023 Women's College World Series on June 2, 2023. (Bryan Terry / USA TODAY Sports)

You have to keep your head on a swivel when you’re out at the ballpark, whether it’s an NCAA Regionals baseball game or a Women’s College World Series softball game. And that includes if you’re in the broadcast booth.

The ESPN commentating team calling the Oklahoma–Tennessee game on Saturday afternoon learned that after a line drive was hit into the booth.

“Oh it’s coming in,” commentator Jessica Mendoza said. “I knew it, she’s going to get it.”

When the cameras panned into the broadcast booth it was Beth Mowins who had come up with the ball.

“You guys ran away, you ran away again,” Michele Smith said with a chuckle.

To that, Mendoza, who was in the middle of Mowins and Smith, chimed in.

“It was a line drive,” Mendoza said. “You should keep it. I guess you only keep it if you catch it.”

Seemingly taking that advice into account, Mowins opted to throw the ball back down to the field. She unfurled a reverse toss toward the field. The ball bounced around a bit off the framing and netting behind home plate, eventually falling back into play.

In the process, the ESPN broadcast team at the Women’s College World Series got a fun little story to tell.

Tennessee was at the plate when the ball was hit up into the booth, with shortstop Mackenzie Donihoo doing the honors of knocking it up there. The Volunteers would soon have ground to make up in the game after Oklahoma opened the scoring in the bottom half of the inning in question.

The Sooners opened up a 3-0 lead the way they have in several other contests this year: with the long ball.

Sooners shortstop Grace Lyons got aboard in the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff walk, but the Volunteers quickly recorded two outs. Center fielder Jayda Coleman was able to get aboard with a single to the pitcher, putting two runners on for second baseman Tiare Jennings.

Jennings stepped to the plate and battled through four pitches before getting one she really liked, launching it to left center field for a three-run bomb.

The Sooners added two more the same way in the bottom of the third inning, when first baseman Cydney Sanders singled and catcher Kinzie Hansen homered to left center field.

Oklahoma led 5-0 in the bottom of the third inning at the time of this writing. Both teams won their opening game at the Women’s College World Series.