As it would be, Vanderbilt and Auburn got underway in game four of the second round of the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament at 9:40 PM local time in Hoover. In front of a sold-out crowd, Vanderbilt and Auburn would deliver an instant classic to the ever-changing folklore of the SEC Baseball Tournament. Over the years, Hoover After Dark has provided some of the Tournament’s most iconic moments. Wednesday night would be no different as one of the hottest teams in baseball would face off with one of the more talented rosters in the country. For those outside the Southeastern Conference, Hoover After Dark is where the unimaginable happens, where nobody gets any sleep but will have memories to last a lifetime.

Deadlocked at two runs through four innings, Auburn and Vanderbilt refused to budge against the other giving Southeastern Conference Baseball fans a thrilling end to the magical second round of the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament.

A lot would be at stake for Auburn and Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. The winner would advance to the winner’s bracket, where they would face the Florida Gators in the late game on Thursday night. The loser would be playing mid-afternoon against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Ideally, for rest’s sake, winning on Wednesday night would allow for an extra few hours of sleep before loading the buses once more to play a red-hot Alabama team in an elimination game with little sleep.

Auburn would score first in the top half of the first inning behind a Cole Foster solo home run to right field. Vanderbilt would respond in the bottom half of the 1st inning with a two-run inning to give the Commodores a 2-1 advantage heading to the top half of the 2nd inning. Auburn would tie the game in the top half of the third behind a monster solo shot from Chris Stanfield to dead centerfield. Vanderbilt would break the 2-2 tie with a fielder’s choice scoring Davis Diaz from third base to give Vanderbilt a 3-2 lead over Auburn with two outs in the bottom half of the 6th. Vanderbilt would strand runners with the bases loaded in the bottom half of the 6th, and the Commodores would take a 3-2 lead over Auburn to the 7th inning. Vanderbilt would score another run in the bottom half of the 7th off a base hit from Davis Diaz, scoring; Enrique Bradfield Jr to extend the Commodores to 4-2 heading to the top half of the 8th inning. With bases loaded in the bottom half of the 8th, Vanderbilt would add two more insurance runs to give the Commodores breathing room with a 6-2 lead over Auburn heading to the top half of the 9th inning. Auburn would cut into the Vanderbilt lead with a two-run shot from Bryson Ware to make it 6-4 Vanderbilt with zero outs in the top half of the 9th. Vanderbilt would hang on to defeat Auburn 6-4.

Vanderbilt had too much talent on Wednesday night, and the Commodores are heading to the winners’ bracket to take on the Gators of Florida. Vanderbilt and Florida met two weeks ago in Gainesville, where the Gators swept a three-game series against the Commodores.

Auburn played a good game on Wednesday night, but the Tigers lacked timely power hitting. Auburn will have an opportunity on Wednesday afternoon; to send their heated rival, Alabama, back home from the SEC Tournament with an earlier-than-expected exit in the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament. Alabama took the regular season series in Tuscaloosa in mid-April.