Dad’s pursuit of foul ball while holding child ends badly during college baseball game

No matter the level of baseball, foul balls will always be chased after by spectators, but sometimes fans can get a bit carried away with their pursuit of the ball.

That happened to one particular dad during a college baseball regional elimination game between the Campbell Fighting Camels and the N.C. State Wolfpack Sunday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the man decided to sprint after a foul ball that was hit by a Wolfpack player down the right field line, past the stands and into the pavilion area.

Not only did he take off immediately after seeing where the ball landed, but now-viral video footage shows he was carrying a small child with him.

While running toward the coveted ball, the dad began to lose his footing – and it all went downhill from there.

Missing his initial attempt at grabbing the ball, he bent down to try to snag it again and fell down, hitting the ground hard. It appeared that the child hit his head pretty hard as well.

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The ESPN announcer’s reaction was likely similar to that of all spectators: If you’re going to go after a ball, make sure your child isn’t in your care if you fall – or be very sure you can make the play.

The Camels went on to slaughter N.C. State, avoiding elimination in the regional with an 11-1 win on Sunday afternoon. 

Jarrod Belbin got Campbell on the board quick in the top of the first inning with a solo homer to right field. Drew Winters would add two more runs when he lifted one for the fence in the same frame to take a commanding lead right off the bat.

Two more runs would be added in the second inning followed by Grant Knipp’s two-run homer that blew the doors open in the third inning. 

The Wolfpack managed to record 11 hits, but they couldn’t bring runners home like the Camels, who tallied 16 hits on the day.

However, the Camels couldn’t get past the South Carolina Gamecocks in the regional championship game later that day, falling 16-7. 

The Gamecocks moved on to the super regional for the first time since 2018 with the victory.