There are quick hooks, and there’s what happened Sunday in the College World Series.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning of Game 2, Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall stepped out of the dugout to exchange words with home plate umpire Angel Campos.
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Campos signaled Schnall to return to the dugout, then immediately ejected him from the game against LSU, leaving Coastal Carolina without its coach for the rest of an elimination game with the NCAA championship at stake. Moments later, umpires ejected Coastal Carolina’s first-base coach Matt Schilling as Schilling protested Schnall’s ejection.
“NCAA Playing Rule 3-6-f-Note 1 states that balls, strikes, half swings or decisions about hit-by-pitch situations are not to be argued,” an NCAA statement about the ejections said. “After a warning, any player or coach who continues to argue balls, strikes, half swings or a hit-by-pitch situation shall be ejected from the game.”
Per NCAA rules Schnall receives a two-game suspension for the ejection and Schilling gets a three-game suspension. That means they won’t be available to coach if the series is extended to Game 3.
It wasn’t clear from the broadcast exactly what Schnall said that sparked Campos’ decision to toss him from the game, but he appeared to be arguing Campos’ balls-and-strikes calls. Regardless, Campos didn’t take much time to make his decision.
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The incident happened as Coastal Carolina had a man on second base with the game in a scoreless tie. Coastal Carolina’s Sebastian Alexander has just stolen second on a first pitch called strike by LSU pitcher Anthony Eyanson.
Campos called for time after announcing the 0-1 count and stepped away from his position behind the plate. He looked over to the Coastal Carolina dugout and exchanged words with Schnall, who at that point had stepped out of the dugout.
Campos motioned for Schnall to return to the dugout. Schnall did not, and Campos ejected him from the game. Schnall rushed to the field to protest the decision, leading to a minutes-long back-and-forth that ultimately led to Schilling’s ejection as well.
Coastal Carolina went into Sunday’s Game 2 in an 0-1 series hole in the best-of-three series after LSU’s 1-0 win in Game 1 on Saturday. With an LSU victory, the Tigers win the NCAA championship. A Coastal Carolina win in Game 2 would send the series to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Monday.