If “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson declared, foolish inconsistency is the hallmark of the NCAA.

Louisville relief pitcher Michael McAvene was ejected and suspended for four additional games Sunday afternoon for an infraction that would have cost any position player a one-game penalty and under circumstances in which a thicker-skinned umpire might easily have looked the other way.

Disturbed that his potential game-ending pitch to Indiana’s Ryan Fineman was called a ball, McAvene expressed his displeasure in the heat of a high-stakes moment, and purportedly without profanity. He was immediately ejected from an NCAA Tournament elimination game by plate umpire Ken Langford, a call that sidelined the pitcher until either the third game of next week’s Super Regional or, if U of L fails to get that far, until next season.

Related:Louisville staves off elimination against Indiana, advances to play Illinois State

The Cardinals ultimately advanced to another must-win game Sunday evening against Illinois State thanks to a 9-7 victory over the Hoosiers,and they won that one, too, 11-2, but their chances of advancing further were compromised by a Draconian double standard. The rule in place fails to recognize the role and resilience of relief pitchers by applying penalties plainly designed for starting pitchers.

Thick as NCAA policy makers can be, that’s a rule destined to be rewritten. Yet inasmuch as its immediate impact deprives Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell of his only arm known to have thrown a 100-mile-per-hour fastball for four full games, the current punishment fits the crime like a bikini fits a Brontosaurus.

“I would have liked a warning,” McDonnell said. “I just think the magnitude at this time of the year ... I got a warning, which is fair. I ran out there to fight for my guy, give me a warning. I toned it down after that. It’s just disappointing Michael didn’t get a warning because I think he deserved it. There’s a lot of emotions. These kids put it on the line.”

To expect rules to be applied differently in the ninth inning than in the first, or in postseason play versus the regular season involves a slope as slippery as an ice-packed ski run. Just as basketball officials should call the same fouls in the closing minutes that they do in the first half, umpires must strive to call the same strike zone and enforce the same standards for decorum at every stage of every game.

Earlier:Incomplete double play proves costly for Louisville baseball in regional loss

Yet given the severity of NCAA penalties for pitchers, umpires ought to allow more latitude than Langford granted McAvene. Though replays indicated Langford was correct in calling McAvene’s 2-2 pitch to Fineman ball 3 – it sailed slightly inside on the right-handed hitter – it was certainly close enough for an interested party to register dissent and far less vociferous than Indiana’s response to Langford’s game-ending strike call on reliever Michael Kirian’s first pitch.

After repeated viewings of the McAvene video, the consensus among press box lip-readers was that his protest consisted of two words: “That’s horrible.” While this was obviously an imperfect display of poise, and arguing balls and strikes is invariably a risky proposition, it’s reasonable to wonder how many 21-year-old pitchers could maintain a stiff upper lip while facing the tying run in the ninth inning of a postseason elimination game?

In light of the circumstances and the consequences, ejecting McAvene without a warning and without a right to appeal a harsh automatic penalty suggests both an overreaction on Langford’s part and a lack of due process by the NCAA.

A statement from NCAA baseball secretary and rules editor Randy Bruns said McAvene was ejected for “disputing an umpire’s decision and unsportsmanlike conduct directed at the home plate umpire.” Bruns did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for additional comment.

Per NCAA policies, McAvene was not made available to the media and was not allowed to watch Sunday’s late game inside Patterson Stadium. Without him, the Cardinals would be forced to proceed without a pitcher who struck out the first five hitters he faced in the NCAA Tournament, a closer who has saved seven games this season and allowed only 16 hits in 30 innings.

If that’s not horrible, it’s close.

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/tims.