JD Thompson, a Vanderbilt baseball pitcher, was removed from Saturday’s series finale versus Florida for the usage of a foreign drug.
Thompson had a 3-2 count on Gators’ Landon Russell with two outs in the fourth inning when officials went out to the mound to inspect his ball, glove, and forearm. Thompson was removed from the game following a lengthy debate with the umpires. The Commodores had a 2-1 lead at the moment.
Coach Tim Corbin stated after the game that he did not know what substance Thompson was caught with.
According to NCAA rules, a pitcher who is ejected for using a foreign substance faces a four-game ban, which would keep him out of next weekend’s series against Mississippi State as well as the midweek game against UT Martin. Corbin declined to answer questions regarding Thompson’s probable suspension, saying he wanted to contact the SEC office for further information.
Thompson was supposed to be replaced by Ethan McElvain, however he left the game with the trainer after suffering an apparent injury while warming up. Freshman Luke Guth came out of the bullpen next and fired four pitches to Russell before striking out Brody Donay to close the inning.
Florida won the game 6-2.
The Commodores (29-11, 10-8 SEC) took the series with wins 10-5 on Thursday and 5-2 on Friday.
This is not the first time a pitcher has been ejected for foreign substances. In 2022, Michigan pitcher Willie Weiss was ejected from a Big Ten tournament game for the same reason.
