STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University baseball coach John Cohen has been suspended one game for violating Southeastern Conference sportsmanship rules.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive made the announcement Wednesday afternoon after Cohen was ejected Sunday following his team’s loss to the University of Alabama. Cohen will serve the suspension Friday in game one of the series opener at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. The suspension also prohibits Cohen from taking part in MSU’s practice today.
“I have all the respect in the world for Commissioner Slive, and I will adhere to his ruling,” Cohen said.
When asked by The Dispatch if he had additional comments about the situation or the additional suspension by the league, the Bulldogs’ fourth-year head coach said, “No.”
Cohen was ejected after Alabama first baseman Austen Smith laced a hit off the left-center field wall to secure an 8-7 victory. Cohen sprinted to get nose-to-nose with each of the three umpires as they attempted to leave Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Cohen continued his verbal tirade of the umpires into the MSU dugout until he turned to do his postgame radio interview with Bulldogs play-by-play voice Jim Ellis.
Cohen was angry with the umpires after a controversial call on a chopper in front of home plate. The umpires ruled the ball was fouled, but Cohen and the Bulldogs believed the ball bounced in front of the plate and was fair. As a result, MSU coaches told relief pitcher Taylor Stark to throw the ball to first base.
“When you go on the road in the SEC you have a lot of things working against you, and our kids did a great job of overcoming (those things),” Cohen said Sunday. “There are things you can control in this game and things that you can’t. We ain’t backing down to anybody no matter what the conditions.”
In accordance with SEC rules, Cohen will face an automatic one-game suspension and the possibility of additional sanctions if he is ejected again this season. NCAA rules dictate an automatic one-game suspension following an ejection. Cohen served that mandated suspension Tuesday night against Mississippi Valley State University.
MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin declined to comment Wednesday when reached by phone.
Friday’s suspension will mark the fourth game Cohen will be forced to miss. He was suspended for one game three years ago for violating the SEC Baseball Ejection Policy.
The SEC policy went into effect at the start of the 2009 SEC conference baseball season and states, “A student-athlete, coach or team representative ejected for misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct for a first offense will receive a written warning cautioning of actions on further like conduct. A second and subsequent ejection in the same year will carry a next game suspension for each ejection.”
The suspension was a result of being ejected from games against Auburn University on April 5, 2009, and Vanderbilt University on April 24, 2009.
Cohen also was suspended for a 2010 game against the University of Tennessee. Sunday’s postgame ejection was Cohen’s first since he was tossed in the fourth inning of a 5-3 loss to the University of Iowa on March 5, 2011.
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