Tossed from College World Series, Coach Blasts 'Embarrassed' Umpire

LSU's collegiate baseball dynasty added another chapter Sunday when the Tigers finished off previously red-hot Coast Carolina in the College World Series with an 5-3 win.

It marked LSU's eighth CWS title since 1991, and the Tigers in the process halted the longest-ever winning streak -- Coastal Carolina's remarkable 26-game binge -- for a team playing for the Series title.

The Tigers' overpowering the Chanticleers in their two-game sweep in the best-of-three series is undeniable.

So is the footnote of the ridiculous ejection of Coastal Carolina's Kevin Schnall, the program's first-ever All-America selection and its first-year head coach following nearly a decade as a top assistant.

Schnall was not only ejected but he was run less than 30 pitches into the game and subsequently received an automatic two-game suspension -- an element that Schnall adamantly refuted and said the crew would change its terminology postgame to fit its in-game decision-making. 

Video of the incident appears to confirm Schnall's recollection of the events in the game that LSU won, 5-3, to clinch the title. 

In his postgame interview, Schnall did not hold back.

"There's 25,000 people there, and I vaguely hear a warning issued," he told reporters. "As the head coach, I was an assistant for 24 years, and as an assistant, you're almost treated like a second grade second-level citizen and you can't say a word. Now, as a head coach I think it is your right to get an explanation of why we got warned.

"I'm 48 years old. I shouldn't get shooed by another grown man. When I walk out to find out what the warning is, a grown man shooed me. At that point I can now hear him say, "It was a warning issued for arguing balls and strikes." At that point I said, "Because you missed three." At that point, ejected."

Action on the field was only heating up at that point. Though Schnall was tossed by home-plate umpire Angel Campos, the rest of the crew -- Casey Moser, Kellen Levy and Clint Fagan -- soon darted towards the infield. Moser tumbled to the stadium dirt in Omaha. 

Schnall appeared not to curse at the umpiring crew and had held up three fingers to denote that the home plate umpire had already missed three strike calls.

"If that warrants an ejection, I'm the first one to stand here like a man and apologize," Schnall said. "Two words that define our program are 'own it.' And what does that mean? It means you have to own everything that you do without blame, without defending yourself, without excuses.

"If you guys watch the video, there was a guy (Moser) that came in extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos' foot, embarrassed in front of 25,000, immediately goes 'Two-games suspension' and said, '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."

Schnall wasn't done.

"They'll retract it, though, because now it's excessive and the reason it was excessive because I was trying to say, I didn't bump him," he added.

"It is what it is. But if that warranted an ejection, man, there would 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."

While LSU captured the title, Schnall engineered a 56-win debut campaign atop his alma mater and no doubt added a few more fans for the Chanticleers program on this day.