Watch: Pitcher Miraculously 'Doing Well' After Being Blasted in the Face by Own Teammate
A frightening scene unfolded on Friday night during a college softball super regional game in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Texas was facing Alabama, with Miranda Elish on the mound for the Longhorns in the second inning.
After Alabama bunted with a runner on first, Texas catcher Mary Iakop fielded the ball and attempted to throw it to second to get the lead runner out.
But Elish was standing between Iakop and second base, and appeared to be unaware that the ball was headed her way.
As a result, the ball hit her square in the face.
WARNING: The video below contains images that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Scary situation in Texas-Alabama softball game. Catcher’s throw to second base hit Texas pitcher Miranda Elish in the face. She was down for several minutes and taken to a hospital. Reports say she is doing well and hospital trip was just a precaution. pic.twitter.com/ahYFLk0ULI
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) May 25, 2019
The sound alone is enough to make you squirm. You can also see the ball bounce off Elish’s face with such impact that it rolls past first base.
Elish immediately crumpled to the ground as coaches and medics ran to her aid. Both her teammates and Alabama players on the field took to a knee while she was being tended to.
She was helped off the field, and the Texas softball team’s Twitter account eventually tweeted out that she had been hospitalized “as a precaution,” but was “doing well.”
INJURY UPDATE: More good news all as we’ve been told “@elish_miranda is doing well and was taken to the ER as a precaution.,.” ?
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) May 25, 2019
After the game, Texas coach Mike White said Elish, who’d been hit on her nose near her cheekbone, was in “good spirits.”
“Elish has been ruled out for the rest of the super regional, which wraps up on Saturday afternoon,” the Austin American-Statesman reported. “White said it had not yet been determined if Elish would need surgery or how she would be transported back to Austin.”
Secondary to Elish’s injury was the actual game.
Texas was down 3-0 at the time of the incident, but rallied to win 7-5.
There’s no doubt that seeing their teammate go down inspired the Texas squad, who were set to play Alabama again Saturday afternoon for a spot in the Women’s College World Series.
“We definitely said that she was our motivation,” sophomore outfielder MK Tedder said, according to American-Statesman. “We definitely took what happened to make sure that we were doing it for her.”
White also praised his team for overcoming the adversity of Elish’s injury and the early deficit to rally for the win.
“Their resiliency they showed and the fight and the character, it bodes well for this team,” White said.
“If this is our final stop, then so be it. But if it’s not, then I think we’ve learned a lot from this and we can build on that going forward.”
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