Kevin O’Sullivan on ejection of Jack Leggett in Super Regional: 'It's unfortunate'

Jack Leggett had to leave a classic game before it was over after umpires ejected him, along with Erik Bakich, at the top of the 13th inning of the Clemson Super Regional. It wasn’t what anyone wanted to see toward the end of a matchup like that one turned out to be, even for Florida and their head coach in Kevin O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan addressed the tossing of Leggett, his former boss when he too was at Clemson, following the 11-10 win for his Gators in extra innings on Sunday. From how he recalled it, he wasn’t entirely sure what happened as he was focusing on his team. Still, upon realizing that the ejection had happened, he himself expressed regret that it had to happen that way.

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“I mean I didn’t know it happened, you know,” O’Sullivan said postgame. “Obviously, the lead-off hitter hit the home run and next thing I was I went back, I looked at the lineup card to see who we had coming up and that type of thing.”

“I didn’t know it happened but, obviously, it’s unfortunate. I mean he’s a legend, Hall of Famer,” said O’Sullivan. “You hate to see that happen.”

O’Sullivan was an assistant and associate head coach under Leggett at Clemson in a tenure from 2002 to 2007. Leggett, who was the head coach of the Tigers from 1994 to 2015, has since returnd to the program to assist in player, staff and program development. He is in his second season in that role under Bakich.

The umpires would send both Bakich and Leggett out at the top of the 13th. A home run from Alden Mathes gave Clemson their first lead since the top of the eighth. After that play, a spike of his bat would lead to a conversation between the officials. Both coaches would come out of the dugout in that time with them both earning ejections moments later. Bakich would then go as far as to follow one umpire around the center of the diamond.

Florida walked it off with a hit from Michael Robertson to give the Gators the ending that they wanted. It just wasn’t fully ideal for O’Sullivan in seeing coaches, including his former boss, get tossed.

More on controversial ejections of Erik Bakich, Jack Leggett in Clemson Super Regional

The Clemson Tigers and Florida Gators were in an absolute marathon of a baseball game in their Super Regional matchup on Sunday.

Clemson’s Alden Mathes launched a pivotal solo shot in the top of the 13th inning, putting the Tigers up 10-9. He was fired up about the solo blast, as you might imagine, and spiked his bat fiercely to the ground as he walked down the first base line. That’s when things got interesting.

In the aftermath of the bat spike, the umpires ejected Clemson assistant coach Jack Leggett from the game. Once they tossed him, Tigers head coach Erik Bakich came out to argue the ejection. The officials then tossed him in the process as well.

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— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) June 9, 2024