North Carolina, Gardner-Webb have to be separated after strikeout staredown and celebration

Things got heated in a midweek baseball game between North Carolina and Gardner-Webb, nearly leading to a benches-clearing scuffle after a strikeout staredown.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, right-handed pitcher Grant Vera took over for Gardner-Webb on the mound, trying to protect a 4-3 lead. He quickly worked back-to-back groundouts before getting to North Carolina infielder Jackson Van De Brake with two outs.

After working Van De Brake to a 1-2 count, Vera got him swinging at a pitch high and on the outside to record the final out of the inning.

As he did, he turned toward home plate while coming off the mound and flexed, seemingly shouting at Van De Brake in the process, drawing the ire of Van De Brake. After a brief hesitation as the strikeout staredown unfolded, Van De Brake tossed his bat and helmet on the ground and began storming up the first-base line toward Vera.

Things getting a bit heated in Chapel Hill as Gardner-Webb heads to the top of the eighth with a 4-3 lead. pic.twitter.com/4U0FQvS1hs

— Pat James (@patjames24) May 10, 2023

Van De Brake was held back by the home plate umpire and a North Carolina assistant coach, but tempers had flared to the point that players from both sides had come out onto the field. North Carolina and Gardner-Webb coaches were seen having a heated argument, with umpires having to separate the them.

The game would go on and North Carolina would strike in the bottom of the eighth inning, seemingly fired up by the antics an inning prior.

The Tar Heels plated two runs, scoring one on a throwing error and a second on a balk, to take a 5-4 lead. They’d close out the game on that score.

As for what happens from the on-field incident in the bottom of the seventh, there could be post-game discipline issued by the NCAA.

Already this season one player has been disciplined for a similar strikeout staredown toward home plate. Florida pitcher Brandon Neely was hit with a four-game suspension — issued to pitchers who are ejected from games — after he celebrated a key strikeout in a game against Georgia.

The rule on ejections comes from the NCAA 2-26 Ejection and Post-Participation Ejection which reads:

e. Whenever a pitcher is ejected for disputing an umpire’s decision or for unsportsmanlike conduct or language directed at an opponent or umpire (including a post-participation ejection), the suspension will be for a total of four (4) games. This applies whether the ejection occurs while the player is serving as the current game pitcher or after having been removed from the game and his last listed position was that of a pitcher. If a player is removed as pitcher but remains in the game in another capacity such as a designated hitter or at a defensive position and is then ejected, the suspension penalty is one additional game.