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, breaking it into pieces.

The 67-mph pitch ended up in Cox's glove and one of those dirt chunks in her eyes. She immediately came out of her crouch and went to her knees, reaching for her eyes through her mask. She was able to stay in the game.

“I thought it was dirt from my glove that must have hit me,” Cox said 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 probably couldn't be repeated, akin to Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch in 2001.

"I didn’t believe it until I saw the video,” Cox said in the interview.

The Ducks won 6-5 in 10 innings and will play Oklahoma on Sunday in an elimination game.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports