Once the bracket came out, the potential matchup between Texas and Tennessee excited people. Two explosive offensives faced off in a winner-take-all game on Thursday afternoon. A win for either would mean they would be heading to the semi-final round of the SEC Tournament on Saturday afternoon and would have to stick around in Hoover and play another game or two.

However, the Volunteers came into the 2025 SEC Tournament on the edge of hosting and not hosting due to a poor SEC performance this season. Needing a win or two to get placed back on the right side of the hosting bubble, Tennessee needed to beat Texas on Thursday to feel much better about their chances at hosting a Regional at Lindsey Nelson Stadium next weekend.

For Texas, winning in Hoover would come down to having pride and finishing what they started as regular-season champions of the Southeastern Conference in their first season as conference members.

With that much on the line for Tennessee, Coach Tony Vitello went with Liam Doyle on the mound, while Texas decided to start Ethan Walker on Thursday. Doyle was the first to be pulled on Thursday after 3.2 innings after giving up six hits on four runs. Ethan Walker finished his day in the top half of the 5th inning. He finished with three strikeouts and one hit on one earned run.

Texas jumped on Tennessee early in the first inning with a base hit from Schuessler that scored Mendoza to make it 1-0 Longhorns after one. Texas would then add three months in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 4-0 Longhorns. Tennessee bounced back in the top half of the 5th inning off a base hit from Cannon Peebles to cut the Texas lead to 4-2. Tennessee would add two more runs in the top half of the 6th inning to make it 4-4 heading to the final three innings of play. Tennessee and Texas would then take the 4-4 tie to extra innings, where each team scored a run in the 10th before Tennessee came out on top 7-5 with a two-run 12th inning.

Tennessee will await the winner of Vanderbilt and Oklahoma on Saturday with a spot in the SEC Championship on the line.