Texas A&M fans kicked out of stadium after allegedly taunting coach over double-murder and suicide involving batboy
Two Texas A&M fans were thrown out of a College World Series game after apparently taunting Florida’s baseball coach over his peripheral ties to a lurid double-murder and suicide three years ago, police said Monday.
The ugly incident unfolded late Saturday night in the first inning of the rain-delayed Aggies-Gators game at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
There had been a close play at third base that went against Florida and ESPN cameras were focused on the Gators dugout to see if UF would challenge the umpire's call.
But what they instead captured were two men, decked out in A&M gear, leaning into Florida's dugout and screaming at Gators coach Kevin O'Sullivan before stadium security peeled them away.
“Those folks were banned and barred from the stadium so they will no longer be attending any more games,” Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci told NBC News on Monday.
The unidentified A&M fans will be persona non grata for the rest of this tournament though their future CWS attendance will be decided by ballpark management, local law enforcement and the NCAA, a stadium official said.
"We're having ongoing discussions on that, but the last I understand, this (stadium ban) will likely be for a year," said Kristyna Engdahl, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority which operates the stadium.
The union, representing Omaha police officers, decried the incident and urged tournament organizers to make sure those A&M fans never get into another CWS game.
"Heckling an opposing baseball team about the tragic death of their batboy is beyond unacceptable," the union said. "Glad our officers and security threw this duo out of Charles Schwab Field."
Back in early May 2021, medical sales executive Paul Otto Reinhart, then 46, killed his two young sons and himself after recently separating from his wife of nearly 20 years, Minde Reinhart.
Coach O'Sullivan was a family friend of Reinharts and one of the two slain boys had served as a Gators batboy.
The slain boys' mother went on to marry O'Sullivan and form a foundation named after the victims.
Eric Sorenson, a writer follows college baseball, said the two A&M fans were "saying that he killed someone and" and he should "be ashamed" of himself before stadium security moved in.
Engdahl, the stadium management spokesperson, called Saturday night’s dugout scene an “unfortunate” incident of “disruptive behavior and abusive language.”
“And this certainly falls within that realm for removal from the ballpark,” she added.
After the game, won 3-2 by A&M, Aggies coach Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle said he doesn't want to see those two fans at any future games.
“I want to apologize on behalf of Texas A&M for whatever the heck went on over there in that dugout,” Schlossnagle said. “Whoever those two guys are, they don’t represent what Texas A&M is all about, and whoever they are, just don’t come back. Let’s not let those two guys back in the ballpark.”
Florida plays Monday afternoon in an elimination game against North Carolina State.
David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.