LSU coach Jay Johnson recounts heated exchange after Seth Dardar’s bat flip against Kentucky
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This college baseball season has not been all sunshine and roses for the LSU Tigers.
They opened the season as the No. 2 team in the country, but were unranked for last weekend’s series versus Kentucky. Despite this, they defeated the Wildcats in the series, which culminated in a 17-10 route that was kickstarted by a massive home run from Seth Dardar.
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Dardar’s home run distance was rivaled by that of his bat, which he flipped to the moon in celebration of giving the Tigers an 11-10 lead. Umpired discussed ejecting Dardar for the toss, but wound up keeping him in the game. Kentucky was not pleased with that decision. Moments later, a member of the Wildcats’ staff got into a verbal altercation with LSU head coach Jay Johnson. The Tigers’ manager spoke on the confrontation after the game.
“[The umps] gave [Dardar] a warning… I thought they were going to kick him out of the game… so I just motioned to the dugout and said, ‘Seth, flip it lower,'” Johnson explained to reporters. “That was my instruction… then the [Kentucky] pitching coach wants to fight me… just another weekend in the SEC.”
LSU (19-10, 4-5 SEC) scored 10 unanswered runs to snag their first SEC series win of the year. Kentucky (21-6, 5-4 SEC) has now lost back-to-back series in conference play. The Tigers face the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville next weekend. Meanwhile, the Wildcats will host the Missouri Tigers.
