Sports

Western Kentucky Baseball Coach Ripped His Opponent For Spitting Sunflower Seeds Onto Turf Field

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College baseball Turf Field Spit Sunflower Seed Peanut

Western Kentucky head coach Marc Rardin is sick and tired of cleaning up after college baseball teams that are not his own. He asked his opponents to stop spitting their sunflower seeds onto the turf field in Bowling Green with a not-so-kind post on social media.

However, the 54-year-old’s complaint completely backfired for more reasons than one.

Rardin took over Western Kentucky’s college baseball team in 2023. The Hilltoppers went 33-26 and 36-22 during his first two seasons at the helm. They are off to a hot start at 9-1 in 2025!

Although it seems like Rardin has the program trending in the right direction, he completely missed the mark when he posted the following video to X:

It was accompanied by the following caption:

STOP SPITTING SEEDS ONTO TURF FIELDS!!
What are you doing?
How do you think these get cleaned up?
Seeds & Peanuts don’t belong at turf baseball fields when people can respect it.
#NoSeedsNoPeanuts

— @CoachRardin / X

Coach Rardin aired his grievances after a loss to Murray State. Perhaps he was grumpy. And, for the record, I completely understand the frustration. I would not want to clean up sunflower seeds either!

But here’s the thing. Rather, things. With an S.

First and foremost, to say “seeds and peanuts don’t belong at turf baseball fields” is completely tone deaf. Nobody likes turf fields. They occasionally allow for games to be played that would otherwise be cancelled due to inclement weather but Western Kentucky had two of its first four games canceled this season anyway. Nick Denes Field being turf did not save the day.

Perhaps Rardin’s caption should instead read: “turf fields don’t belong in baseball” ? I digress!

The primary sentiment of the head coach’s complaint stems from the question, “How do you think these get cleaned up?” Admittedly, I don’t know the answer but I would guess that it requires some man power and a rake. Maybe there is a turf-grooming machine for the grounds crew that can expedite the process.

Either way, if I don’t know the answer, the visiting teams that don’t play on a turf field are probably in the same boat. Rardin made his post one day after playing against the Racers. The Racers play on grass.

With that being said, I did a quick dive into the Hilltoppers’ schedule. 15 of their opponents play on a turf field, which a bummer. That list includes: Illinois State, Eastern Kentucky, Central Michigan, Tennessee Tech, Southern Illinois, Evansville, Sam Houston State, Vanderbilt, Dallas Baptist, Liberty, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and Jacksonville State. Those teams likely know not to spit seeds onto the turf field so it will not be an issue. If they continue to spit despite playing on a turf field at their own stadium, then it completely disproves Rardin’s point anway.

And for the teams that don’t know the protocol when it comes to turf fields, it seems like a very easy solution. Western Kentucky head baseball coach Marc Rardin, or even one of his assistants, can simply ask them to refrain. Stick to bubblegum and Zyn instead!

The tirade on social media was completely unnecessary. He probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It happens. But the seed issue could not be more out of touch with reality…