Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis ejected vs. South Carolina after passionate fight with umpire

Since winning the national championship, baseball has been rough for Mississippi State. Head coach Chris Lemonis has seen his team get off to another tough start this season, currently sitting at 0-6 in the SEC. Thursday night’s game against South Carolina is trending toward being another loss as well, with the misery piling on in Starkville.

Tensions finally boiled over on Lemonis’ end, as he took out some frustration on the umpire. After not getting a strikeout call on a 1-2 pitch, Lemonis went ballistic and had some choice words. He thought South Carolina’s Cole Messina should have been called out and given the Bulldogs one out in the inning.

Lemonis was only heated because of the way Messina’s at-bat ended. He wound up taking one to deep left field and made his emotions known. Messina was talking toward the Mississippi State dugout while rounding third base.

A frustrating moment for sure from Lemonis’ perspective as he is able to hit the showers a couple of innings early. You can watch both the home run and ejection below.

Lemonis wasnt a fan of it 👀 pic.twitter.com/dIZQbIbz1S

— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) March 31, 2023

South Carolina took a 5-3 lead with the home run before adding on four more runs. Mississippi State was not able to pull off the comeback with their head coach back in the clubhouse. While Lemonis might have been trying to light a fire under his team, it did not work — at least on Thursday.

Mississippi State off to rough start against SEC

Two SEC series for Mississippi State this season and both have resulted in getting swept. Kentucky got the Bulldogs in Lexington, while Vanderbilt walked into Starkville and took care of business. Only the opener against UK was a close result, losing by an average of 10.67 runs.

While the SEC losing this season streak now sits at seven, you can go back to 2022 and you will find 11 more losses for Mississippi State. It’s been a brutal stretch for Lemonis as his seat might be a tad hot.

South Carolina is not going to let up for the rest of the weekend either. They are off to their best conference start in program history, having the opposite record at 7-0. Head coach Mark Kingston has the Gamecocks rolling and playing like one of the best teams in the country.

In the battle of opposites at Dudy Noble Field, South Carolina will be hoping they continue to feast.