A lip-reading moment during the ESPN broadcast of Wake Forest’s loss to Tennessee in the College World Series has Demon Deacons baseball coach Tom Walter in the middle of a controversy after he appeared to utter a homophobic slur.

Wake Forest’s season came to an end in the 11-5 loss to Tennessee on Monday, but it was a moment in the bottom of the fourth inning that has caused a stir on social media right before Volunteers’ first baseman Andrew Fischer hit a two-run homer to extend Tennessee’s lead. 

Fischer was at the plate with two outs and a 1-2 count, preparing for the next pitch, when the ESPN broadcast panned over to Walter standing at the top of the Wake Forest dugout. 

Walter had just come out to speak with the home plate umpire, and the camera zoomed in on him at the top of the dugout steps while he appeared to angrily say something. 

It has been speculated on social media that Walter had uttered a homophobic slur, which included baseball writer Keith Law posting about it on Bluesky. 

The broadcasters did not appear to catch the moment and on the next pitch, Fischer sent a massive blast over the right field wall to give Tennessee an 8-2 lead.

“I am very sorry for the outburst in frustration last night and I recognize the hurt and disappointment it has caused,” Walter said in a statement released Tuesday morning. “I have seen the videos and while I do not remember the specific moment clearly, that language doesn’t reflect my values or the standards of the program. Regardless, I own the consequences and apologies to the University of Tennessee, to Wake Forest University, and the SEC & ACC.”

“I am both surprised and deeply disappointed in our head baseball coach Tom Walter for his outburst during last night’s baseball game,” athletics director John Currie said in a statement. “I feel badly for those most hurt by such words. I spoke with Coach Walter immediately after the game and again this morning to address this incident, which is completely out of character for him and does not meet the standards of Wake Forest Athletics, Wake Forest University or the Atlantic Coast Conference.”

He did congratulate Tennessee for advancing and the fans for the atmosphere they created during the Super Regional round of the College World Series. 

“It’s been a pleasure playing here the last four days. Really proud of our guys and the way we battled,” Walter said. “Hate that it’s over for our seniors and the guys we’ll lose to the draft, but proud of the way we competed and two great baseball teams gave it their all today. We came up on the short end.” 

The NCAA regional round of the tournament has already created one controversy involving another coach after Florida manager Kevin O’Sullivan and athletics director Scott Stricklin had to apologize for a tirade toward Coastal Carolina and NCAA baseball officials over the weekend. 

Sullivan had been caught on video berating officials over having to push back Sunday’s elimination game against East Carolina because the game between Coastal Carolina and East Carolina ended so late the night before. 

The Gators’ coach said in a statement released Monday that he had “let my emotions get the best of me” and he wanted to “sincerely apologize” for the way he treated the staff.