Kevin Schnall speaking with reporters after being ejected in Game 2 of the College World Series Photo Credit: NCAA Championships on YouTube
By Reice Shipley on

Sunday’s Game 2 matchup in the College World Series got off to a bad start right from the jump for Coastal Carolina when head coach Kevin Schnall saw his day come to an end early after arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Angel Campos in the first inning.

And as you may expect, Schnall has plenty to say about the situation after his team saw their season come to an end.

Coastal Carolina third baseman Walker Mitchell had a strike called on him in his first at-bat of the game that appeared to be quite a bit inside, an early trend of an incredibly inconsistent strike zone from Campos.

Kevin Schnall, who had been upset from the dugout after other missed calls in the inning, decided to say something to Campos. And Campos responded by issuing a warning to both dugouts about arguing balls and strikes.

Schnall then walked towards Campos, continuing to argue his strike zone. And Campos quickly ejected Schnall from the game, which prompted what appeared to be a very heated on-field interaction between the two as other umpires came into the fray to separate them.

In addition to Schnall being ejected, Coastal Carolina first base coach Matt Schilling was also ejected after similarly coming onto the field to argue with Campos.

The upstart Coastal Carolina team would go on to lose the game 5-3 after a Game 1 loss on Saturday as LSU won the College World Series for their eighth baseball championship. And a lengthy portion of Schnall’s postgame press conference was dedicated to ripping Campos for his quick trigger and overall conduct throughout their discussion on the field.

“There are 25,000 people there, and I vaguely hear a warning issued,” said Schnall. “As the 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 come out to ask what the warning is, a grown man shooed me.

“So 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. If that warrants an ejection, I’m the first one to stand here like a man and apologize. Two words that define our program are own it. What does that mean? You have to own everything that you do. Without blame, without defending yourself. Without excuses.”

Kevin Schnall then revealed how he had actually been issued a two-game suspension for bumping into one of the other umpires during the on-field interaction. But he clearly feels as if the video of the incident shows that there was no intent involved on his side whatsoever, and that the umpire who fell to the ground was actually in the wrong.

“If you guys watch the video, there was a guy that came in, extremely aggressively, tripped over Campos’ foot, embarrassed in front of 25,000,” added Schnall. “Immediately goes, ‘Two-game suspension, 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.

“They will retract it, though. Because now, it’s excessive. And the reason why it was excessive is because I was trying to say I didn’t bump him. 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 is your job to manage the National Championship game with some poise, some calmness, and a little bit of tolerance.”

Despite what some umpires might think, none of the 25,000 people in attendance want to see umpires interject themselves in the game like we saw in Sunday’s game.

While nobody will truly know how the game would have gone had Schnall and Schilling not been ejected so early on, it’s fairly understandable to hear Schnall talk about the situation so passionately, given what was at stake for Coastal Carolina.

Though, unfortunately for Kevin Schnall, these comments could very well lead to some sort of potential penalty coming his way, given the fact that the NCAA has a policy against speaking negatively against officials.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley