College Reliever Causes Delay After Busting Through Bullpen Gate Trying to Enter Game

Multiple people had to get involved when a gate took some damage during the Alabama-Alabama State game. | ESPN+

Alabama beat Alabama State 2-1 in some early season, mid-week college baseball action on Wednesday. The Hornets scored first, but the Crimson Tide came back and took the lead for good in the fifth inning when reliever Camden Matthews threw a ball in the dirt that got by the catcher and allowed the go-ahead run to score.

Starter Jaxon Baptist was charged the run and Matthews walked the batter, but was able to strike out the next two hitters and get out of the inning before more damage was done.

And by damange I mean damage to the bullpen door in the outfield. Matthews ran into the gate as he entered the game and proceedings were delayed for about seven minutes as the grounds crew had to put the gate back on the hinges.

In case there was any question whether or not Matthews was the culprit, he responded to a social media post about the delay saying, "My fault."

My fault

— Camden Matthews (@camdenm3) February 19, 2026

During the delay play-by-play announcer Roger Hoover and color commentator Lance Cormier discussed various bullpen setups and wondered if maybe there was some confusion about whether the door was push or pull. The one thing we can be certain of is that it does not go both ways.

When the gate was finally fixed they jammed it shut and left a mallet in the bullpen just in case. By the time Matthews was finally taken out with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the next man up entered the game without any issues.

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