A crazy scene unfolded during Saturday’s Southern Conference tournament baseball game between Mercer and Samford, and a player’s mother was among those who were ejected.
Samford outfielder Michael Gupton blasted a home run to center field to give his team a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. As he rounded the bases, Gupton stopped to say something to Mercer shortstop Bradley Frye. Gupton then began taunting the Mercer dugout as he made his way to home plate.
It is unclear what issue Gupton had with his opponents, but he could not rub the home run in their faces enough. Frye took exception to the antics and began making his way toward Gupton, though the umpires stood in the way.
You can see the video:
Samford hits a bomb. Dude taunts the whole stadium. Mercer takes players off the field in protest.
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 25, 2025
This leagueeeeeee pic.twitter.com/9kuEcABxCe
Tensions ran so high that Mercer manager Craig Gibson decided to pull his team off the field in what appeared to be some sort of protest. Southern Conference commissioner Michael Cross went down to the field to speak with the umpiring crew during what ended up being a 25-minute break in the action. Umpires decided to eject Gupton, Frye, Mercer pitching coach Tanner Gordon and Samford assistant coach Gil Walker, according to Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports.
A fan was then ejected as well — Frye’s mother. She was escorted from the ballpark after climbing onto the dugout following her son’s ejection.
The mother of the Mercer SS has been ejected pic.twitter.com/Z3U0Tba1vs
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 25, 2025
The dust eventually settled and the game continued, but another player was ejected a short while later. Mercer’s third baseman was tossed after he shoved a Samford player who was thrown out in a rundown.
Mercer 3rd baseman has now been ejected for shoving Samford player pic.twitter.com/Uj9qcEbLSu
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 25, 2025
Samford held on to win 5-1 and advance to the SoCon championship game. They will face ETSU with the conference title on the line.
We can’t remember another baseball game where there was mayhem quite like that.
