INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee on Friday issued a public reprimand to Coastal Carolina athletic director Chance Miller for misconduct after Game 2 of the College World Series finals in Omaha, Nebraska, in June.
Committee members cited Miller for berating the NCAA national coordinator of umpires in a public setting and later NCAA staff in the hallways of Charles Schwab Field.
It was the committee's understanding Miller was frustrated by an umpire's decision to eject Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall and assistant Matt Schilling in the first inning against LSU on June 22.
Miller was found to have violated a bylaw that states misconduct in an NCAA championship is "any act of dishonesty, unsportsmanlike conduct, unprofessional behavior or breach of law, occurring from the time the championship field is announced through the end of the championship, that discredits the event or intercollegiate athletics."
Miller won't be allowed to attend the first game of the next NCAA baseball regional in which his team plays.
"The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee strongly believes this type of behavior is unacceptable and has no place at any NCAA championship event," said Jay Artigues, committee chair and director of athletics at Southeastern Louisiana. "As an athletics director, Mr. Miller is expected to uphold the highest standards of conduct, and his actions fell well short of that expectation."
Walker Mitchell was at bat with two outs when Schnall went to the top steps of the dugout, gestured at plate umpire Angel Campos with three fingers and began shouting at him. The NCAA said Schnall was arguing balls and strikes, was given a warning and thrown out when he did not leave immediately. Instead, Schnall went onto the field to continue arguing.
LSU won 5-3 for its second national championship in three years.