Tennessee baseball transfer commit Maui Ahuna was at the center of a brawl during the Team USA collegiate game on Thursday. The benches-clearing scuffle happened during the top of the eighth inning of Team USA’s game against Curaçao. The game took place in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The video that shows the situation starts with Ahuna (No. 10) as a baserunner on second base, out of the frame on the right side. The Curaçao infielders could be seen verbally jawing with someone off-screen, who turned out to be Ahuna. While there was some pushing and shoving, the video doesn’t show any direct punches being thrown, but the scuffle was enough to bring out both benches onto the field.
“We’ve got a brawl,” the announcer on the video said. “They’re brawling. What the hell happened here?”
Benches clear between Team USA vs Curaçao 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/APetybWY6T
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) July 14, 2022
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Despite the activity going on in the 44-second video that was posted to Twitter, it doesn’t seem as though the situation was too consequential for either team. The official Team USA postgame report does not even mention the brawl.
“He (Maui Ahuna) was right in the middle of what went on with Curaçao,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said on Thursday evening about the Ahuna incident while being interviewed on Fox Sports Knoxville’s The Drive with Russell Smith. “I haven’t talked to him. We’ve texted. But he is a kid with a lot of talent and he will be exciting. Super chill kid. He’s from the big island in Hawaii.”
Ahuna entered the game at second base on Thursday in the sixth inning to replace Jack Hurley. Ahuna reached base at the plate due to a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning before striking out in his second plate appearance in the ninth.
The Team USA Collegiate National Team fell to Curaçao by a score of 3-2 in 10 innings in the Honbalweek Semifinals on Thursday.
Maui Ahuna announced that he would be transferring to Tennessee from Kansas in June. The former Jayhawk shortstop was one of the top players in the transfer portal after two dynamic seasons at Kansas. In the 2022 season, the eventual All-Big 12 First Team selection hit .396 with eight home runs and 48 RBIs.
