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.
Campos twice signaled Schnall to return to the dugout then 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.
(Tyler McFarland via Getty Images)
LSU went on to a 5-3 win to secure a two-game sweep and the NCAA championship.
What got Schnall tossed
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.
The incident happened as Coastal Carolina had a man on second base with the game in a scoreless tie. Coastal Carolina’s Sebastian Alexander had 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. Another umpire fell to the ground during the commotion.
Schnall: ‘I shouldn’t be shooed by another grown man’
Schnall shared candid thoughts about his ejection in his postgame news conference.
“There’s 25,000 people there, and I vaguely hear a warning issued,” Schnall said. “As the head coach — I was an assistant for 24 years. As an assistant, you’re almost treated like a second-grade — second-level citizen. And you can’t say a word.
“As a head coach, I think it is your right to get an explanation of why we got warned. I’m 48 years old, and I shouldn’t be shooed by another grown man. When I come out to ask what the warning is, a grown man shooed me.”
Schnall went on to describe his perspective of the moment he got ejected.
“So at that point, I can now hear him say ‘it was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes,'” Schnall continued. “At that point, I said, ‘because you missed three.’ At that point, ejected.
“If that warrants ejection, I’m the first one to stand here like a man and apologize. … But if that warranted an ejection, man there’d be a lot of ejections. As an umpire, I feel like it’s your job to manage the game — the national championship game — with some poise, some calmness and a little bit of tolerance.”
Schnall on umpire who fell: ‘He was embarrassed’
Schnall also addressed another umpire who fell to the ground while Schnall was pleading his case on the field.
“If you guys watch the video, there was a guy that came extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos’ foot. Embarrassed in front of 25,000. Immediately goes ‘two-game suspension’ and says ‘bumping the umpire.
“Immediately does that. There was no bump. He was embarrassed. I shouldn’t be held accountable for a grown man’s athleticism.”
NCAA’s explanation
The NCAA released a statement in-game about the rule that got Schnall ejected.
“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,” the statement reads. “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 continuing to argue after his ejection and Schilling gets a three-game suspension. Barring a retraction, the suspensions will extend fully to next season since the series will not go to Game 3. Both coaches would have missed Game 3 had Coastal Carolina won on Sunday.
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. Now the Tigers have their eighth NCAA title and their second in three years.
