A stunning moment occurred on Friday during a baseball game between the University of Alabama and Vanderbilt University. An umpire took a baseball to the facemask.
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The moment occurred as Commodores pitcher Aiden Stillman faced off with Crimson Tide hitter Brennan Holt. Stillman threw a pitch, which Holt fouled directly into the facemask of plate umpire Scott Kennedy.
The force of the hit knocked the mask from Kennedy's face. The umpire then fell hard onto his back. Trainers from both the University of Alabama and Vanderbilt University rushed to check on him. They ultimately walked him off the field as he wiped his face with a Gatorade towel.
Umpire fell to the ground after taking a foul ball to the face mask and eventually walked off on his own power pic.twitter.com/TknuykmI7m
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 1, 2026
"First and foremost, you're just hoping that Scott is okay," Alabama coach Rob Vaughn said about the umpire during a post-game press conference. "Getting a report from our trainers later. I think he's okay and doing better."
A new umpire took over for Kennedy as the game continued. Alabama went on to win 5-0, marking the program's first SEC victory since April 1.
Several players contributed to this shutout win. Starting pitcher Zane Adams and reliever Ashton Crowther kept the Vanderbilt batters in check. Adams, in particular, only allowed eight singles and one walk. He struck out six batters.
Meanwhile, Eric Hines hit a two-run home run while John Lemm hit a solo homer. Jason Torres delivered an RBI to help the team score a dominant win.
"I think it all starts with Zane (Adams)," Vaughn said. "Just an incredible job on the mound, executing pitches. That's a dangerous offense. We talked about that a little bit yesterday and what they've done. There's some thunder at the top of the order.
"They got guys that can really hit and thought he just did a really good job establishing the heater today. I think all the other stuff just played really well. Executed some fastballs and some huge counts. Really everything was kind of working and executing pitches in big spots. And, obviously, (Eric Hines) hits a big homer, has another RBI later, just a really good job."
