Friday’s college baseball game between Alabama and Vanderbilt had a scary moment.
During the second inning of the SEC matchup, Alabama graduate student Brennan Holt fouled a pitch off from Commodores starting pitcher Brennan Seiber straight into the face of home plate umpire Scott Kennedy.
Kennedy immediately collapsed upon getting hit with the ball, stumbling directly on his back with his mask being knocked off his face.
After falling over, Kennedy remained on the ground for several minutes as he was being assisted by trainers from both teams.
He was ultimately able to walk off the field on his own power, with second base umpire Anthony Perez replacing Kennedy behind the plate for the remainder of the game at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The game was delayed for roughly 15 minutes while the situation was resolved.
Kennedy was “doing better” following the game, but there has yet to be an official update on his health, and there will be a replacement umpire for Saturday’s game, an Alabama athletics spokesperson told The Post.
“I think first and foremost, you’re just hoping Scott’s OK, you know, and I think just get a report from our trainer,” Crimson Tide head coach Rob Vaughn told reporters following the game. “I think he’s OK, and he’s doing better.”
Vaughn added how rattling it is to see a situation where someone gets seriously hurt in a non-contact sport like baseball.
“Obviously it’s just an unfortunate situation,” he said. “Baseball is not a contact sport. You’re used to seeing guys in weird spots like that in football and some other physical sports.
“But baseball, you don’t see that often. So hoping Scott’s OK is the first thing and then you get back to the game.”
Alabama bested the Commodores 5-0 on Friday, improving its record to 31-16.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
