For the 4th time this season, the state championship for Tennessee, as the Volunteers of Tennessee and the Commodores of Vanderbilt met in Hoover for the 2025 Southeastern Conference Semi-finals with a spot in the SEC Tournament Championship up for grabs. Vanderbilt and Tennessee met three weeks ago in Knoxville, with the Commodores taking two out of three in Knoxville with a bench-clearing altercation.

With a spot in the SEC Tournament Championship game on the line, Vanderbilt would roll with Cody Bowker as the starting pitcher on Saturday, while Tennessee went with Tegan Kuhns as their starter. Kuhns didn’t last long as Tony Vitello pulled him after 1.1 innings pitched; he gave up five hits, four runs, and only one strikeout. Bowker finished his day with four complete innings, only giving up three hits, zero runs, and an impressive nine strikeouts.

Vanderbilt got to the Tennessee pitching early, scoring one in the first, four in the second, and two in the third, giving the Commodores a 7-0 lead over Tennessee heading to the bottom of the fourth inning. Vanderbilt would go scoreless in the 4th inning for the first time all game but still held on to a 7-0 lead over Tennessee. Vanderbilt would add three more runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to earn a run-ruled victory over Tennessee and secure a spot in the SEC Tournament Championship game against the winner of LSU and Ole Miss on Sunday.

There’s something so pure about Vanderbilt baseball in the way they play the game of baseball. Not only did Vanderbilt secure a spot in the SEC Tournament Championship game, but the Commodores now have a legitimate argument to be the number one seed overall once the Regional selections get announced on Monday morning.

Vanderbilt will await the LSU and Ole Miss winner on Sunday at 2:00 on ESPN2 in the 2025 SEC Tournament Championship game.

Photo Credits- SEC on X