New Jersey pulls Alabama baseball bets following suspicious activity in Ohio

First it was Ohio putting the kibosh on Alabama baseball bets over the weekend. And now another state has put a halt to wagers on the Crimson Tide baseball team as further scrutiny is applied to some “suspicious” activity that occurred while they played a road series at LSU.

New Jersey has now put a hold on bets on Alabama baseball for the time being, according to ESPN Chalk’s David Payne Purdum. New Jersey is apparently the second state with legalized sports betting to make this decision.

“New Jersey sportsbooks were instructed to halt betting on college baseball games involving Alabama today, as regulators in Ohio continue investigate suspicious wagering that occurred on last Friday’s Alabama-LSU game,” Payne Purdum tweeted on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Alabama athletics said they are ‘actively seeking’ info about baseball team, ‘suspicious’ betting activity

In short, they’re looking into the matter — one that remains murky to the general public.

“Alabama Athletics became aware of this situation Monday evening and is actively seeking information about the report,” the university said in a statement, according to Mike Rodak of AL.com. The NCAA apparently began looking into the issue as of Tuesday morning.

The action taken by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) stemmed from oddities that arose over the weekend as Alabama faced No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge.

OCCC director Matthew T. Schuler issued the following emergency order, shared with On3.

“The Ohio Casino Control Commission has received reports from one of its certified independent integrity monitors regarding wagers made on University of Alabama Baseball,” Schuler said. “In response to these reports, I am issuing an emergency order to licensees under Ohio Adm. Code 3775-11-01(E)(2), prohibiting the acceptance of any wagers on University of Alabama Baseball effective immediately. Any wagers placed on an incomplete sporting event that has had wagering suspended through the issuance of an emergency order must be voided in accordance with Chapter 3775-11-01(F).”

The NCAA issued a separate statement earlier on Tuesday, acknowledging they were looking into the matter, too.

“The NCAA takes sports wagering very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition,” the statement read. “We are aware of this issue and actively gathering additional information.”

Per NCAA rules, “participation in sports wagering activities and from providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition.”

Heading into the eighth inning of Friday’s game, LSU held an 8-1 lead before Alabama scored five runs over the final two innings, including four in the top of the ninth inning.

LSU pitcher Griffin Herring allowed five runs on six hits and two walks in 2.2 innings pitched. Bryce Collins then came in to close it out, allowing a hit and striking out the final batter of the inning.

On3’s Nick Schultz, Griffin McVeigh and Andy Wittry contributed to this report.