Vanderbilt pitcher JD Thompson ejected after umpires find substance on his arm

A bizarre twist in the Florida–Vanderbilt series finale saw Commodores pitcher JD Thompson ejected after umpires convened to survey his arm in the top of the fourth inning.

They appeared to find something irregular, ruling him out for the contest. Vanderbilt coaches were not happy about the ejection, which came with Florida threatening to tie a 2-1 contest.

NCAA rules stipulate that a pitcher may not have on their person or possess any foreign substance.

The pitcher can apply rosin to their bare hand or may use his bare hands to rub up the ball, but the pitcher cannot apply any foreign substance or moisture to the ball or to the pitching hand or fingers.

JD Thompson, just before he was about to pitch, had bounced the rosin bag off his arm. That prompted the visit from officials.

Some controversy in the Florida vs Vanderbilt baseball game. Vanderbilts pitcher, JD Thompson, has just been ejected from the game after being accused of having an illegal substance on his right arm. The Florida dugout had been complaining for a few batters now and they… pic.twitter.com/EKqF8b6YGO

— Dean Ralsky (@DeanRalsky) April 20, 2024

Broadcasters calling the game suggested that perhaps sunscreen sweating off Thompson’s arm could have been the reason for the mysterious substance that triggered the ejection.

In any case, things quickly got worse for Vanderbilt after the ejection.

The Commodores brought in left-handed freshman Ethan McElvain to try to finish off the inning. But after throwing a warm-up pitch to the plate, McElvain immediately shot up and grabbed his lower back.

He left the game injured, with Vanderbilt forced to go to a third pitcher in the top of the fourth inning following the JD Thompson ejection. The Commodores won the first two games between the two programs to take the series.

The weekend hasn’t been a total waste for Florida, though. The Gators made a bit of history, courtesy of slugger Jac Caglianone.

Caglianone fired off home runs in both of the first two games of the series, bringing his running total to an NCAA-record-tying nine straight games with a home run. He was looking to break the record on Saturday against the ‘Dores.

Through his first three at-bats, though, Caglianone had grounded into a pair of double plays and walked. The game was in the top of the fifth inning at the time of this writing, with Florida leading 4-2.