Alabama baseball head coach Rob Vaughn was ejected for the first time this season Saturday in the team’s 9-2 loss to Tennessee.
The ejection came as a result of Vaughn arguing over a foul tip call with Tennessee’s Dalton Bargo at the plate on a 1-2 count in the top of the third inning. The umpire ruled the hit a foul ball, but Alabama catcher Will Plattner, who tried to catch the ball, was adamant it didn’t hit the dirt.
“Our catcher felt like he caught it, and Rob is always going to have his back,” associate head coach Jason Jackson said.
Vaughn asked the umpires to review the call, but a foul tip is unreviewable, and the umpires didn’t grant it. He then went to the third-base umpire to get his thoughts on the play.
After coming back to the home plate umpire, Vaughn snapped at him, yelling and screaming in his face until he finally got the hook from the game.
“I think Rob was getting two different stories, which was what frustrated him,” Jackson said.
Bargo homered on the next pitch when play resumed, extending the Volunteers lead to 3-0 en route to the victory.
Vaughn’s explosion came after the previous Tennessee batter, Andrew Fischer, was down 0-2 in the count when he called time to go back into the dugout and apply something to his bat, which killed a lot of time.
Fischer homered later in the at bat, and the very next at-bat was when Vaughn was ejected. Jackson wasn’t sure if the situation with Fischer led to the blowup.
Jackson took over coaching responsibilities for the rest of the game as the Volunteers clinched the series win. Alabama will look to rebound next weekend against Oklahoma.
