Arizona State’s leading hitter, Landon Hairston, was ejected from the Sun Devils’ NCAA regional elimination game against Nebraska on May 31, 2026, after flipping his bat following a called third strike. The ejection came in the fourth inning of the noon Mountain time game with ASU leading 5-1 and ultimately removed one of the team’s most productive players from the remainder of the day’s action — a development that carried into the evening as Arizona State was eliminated later that night.
Hairston, who earlier this season broke the school record for home runs in a single campaign with 28, took a called strike three from Nebraska pitcher Cooper Katksee in the fourth inning and reacted by flipping his bat several feet into the air. After the umpires conferred, they announced the ejection and Hairston was escorted from the field. At the end of the inning the game was delayed as coach Willie Bloomquist walked Hairston to the locker room amid roars from the home crowd.
ASU batter No. 25 stands at the plate holding his bat as the catcher prepares to throw, captured during the NCAA regional game that featured a controversial bat flip and a subsequent ejection.
Kyler McGary moved into the outfield to replace Hairston following the ejection. The removal of ASU’s top offensive presence left the Sun Devils without the player who led the roster in virtually every major offensive category, and the team had to finish the regional without his bat or his presence in the lineup for the second game that night.
Through the regional stretch Hairston had struggled at the plate. Over three games he was 2-for-12 with two RBIs, three runs scored and two strikeouts. While the called strike that led to the flip was questioned by those on the field and in the stands, Bloomquist said the reaction appeared to be driven more by frustration with himself than with the umpiring. "I don't advocate for the bat flip there, but by the same token, I've been around Landon Hairston all year. If I know Landon like I think I do, he was more frustrated with himself, taking that pitch, and it looked a lot worse than he meant it to look," Bloomquist said after the game. "I would have really liked to have seen a warning in that situation. This was an intense game with a lot of emotions running high.
"Have some feel, I guess, is what I would say. Yeah, I'm going to defend my player no matter what. This is a regional championship game. Everyone's emotions are high. And now we're sitting here talking about an umpire, making a call vs. one of the best players in the country that now doesn't get to play in a regional championship game."
Arizona State extended its advantage on the scoreboard as the day progressed, pushing the lead to 6-1 after five innings, and the team held on to prevail 11-8 in the afternoon matchup. The victory, however, did not erase the immediate consequence of Hairston’s ejection: he was ineligible to participate in the Sun Devils’ second game of the day, the postseason night contest against Mississippi.
An Arizona State player in the home 'Devils' uniform jogs with a grin on the basepaths during the same NCAA regional matchup that saw a bat flip lead to an ejection.
Deprived of Hairston’s bat in the lineup, Arizona State fell to Mississippi in the night session, a 5-4 loss that went 10 innings and ended the Sun Devils’ stay in the regional. The ejection removed one of ASU’s most consistent offensive contributors from the night game and left the coaching staff to shuffle personnel for the decisive contest.
The sequence of events — a called third strike, a bat flip, a conference among the umpires and an ejection — unfolded in front of a raucous home crowd and prompted immediate debate on the field and in the stands. Hairston was led to the clubhouse by Bloomquist while the stadium reacted, and McGary’s substitution in the outfield stood as the immediate in-game adjustment. The noon victory over Nebraska closed with the Sun Devils ahead 11-8, and the later loss to Mississippi in extra innings concluded Arizona State’s run in the regional.
This account has been updated with additional information.