HOOVER, Ala. – Vanderbilt punched its ticket to the SEC Championship game with a dominant 10-0, seven-inning shutout of defending national champion Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Behind six straight strikeouts from Cody Bowker and a relentless offensive attack, the Commodores clinched a run-rule victory and advanced to Sunday’s final against Ole Miss.
Tennessee dropped to 43-16 overall and 18-15 in SEC play under head coach Tony Vitello. Starter Tegan Kuhns and relievers Dylan Loy, Tanner Franklin, Brayden Krenzel and Andrew Behnke combined to allow 13 hits, eight earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts over six innings. Kuhns took the loss, falling to 2-4 after giving up five hits and four earned runs in 1.1 innings.
Offensively, Tennessee stranded seven runners.
The Volunteers will await their NCAA Tournament placement on Selection Monday, May 26 at 12 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.
Vanderbilt improved to 41-16 overall and 21-11 in the SEC. The Commodores will play in the SEC Tournament championship game Sunday, May 25 at 1 p.m. EDT against Ole Miss.
🚨 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME UPDATE
Due to a projected forecast of possible inclement weather tomorrow afternoon, the 2025 #SECBSB Tournament title game on Sunday, May 25 has been moved up to begin at 12 PM CT. Network designation TBD. Gates open at 10:30 AM CT.
⛈️… pic.twitter.com/W3yX5Ss3LH
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) May 24, 2025
Under head coach Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt’s pitching staff was dominant. Starter Cody Bowker and reliever Connor Fennell combined for a seven-inning shutout, allowing just four hits while striking out 11 with three walks, seven flyouts and three groundouts.
Bowker issued back-to-back walks to open the game, then struck out six straight: Hunter Ensley, Dalton Bargo and Dean Curley to end the first, followed by Reese Chapman, Levi Clark and Cannon Peebles in the second. Peebles reached on a dropped third strike but was stranded after Manny Marin flew out to center.
Vanderbilt struck quickly in the bottom of the first. Rustan Rigdon singled and scored on Riley Nelson’s RBI single to right. Nelson was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, ending the inning.
The Commodores broke the game open with a four-run second. Jacob Humphrey singled home Braden Holcomb to make it 2-0. Mike Mancini laid down a bunt that resulted in a throwing error by Dean Curley, scoring Colin Barczi and sending Mancini to second. Rigdon capped the inning with a two-run single to center, plating Humphrey and Mancini for a 5-0 lead.
In the third, Brodie Johnston scored on a wild pitch during Humphrey’s at-bat, and moments later Barczi came home on another wild pitch to make it 7-0.
What a play at the plate!
Vandy up a touchdown on the Vols 👀 pic.twitter.com/Byu2R4hAv4
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 24, 2025
Vanderbilt padded its lead in the sixth. Mancini drove in Jonathan Vastine with a single, RJ Austin followed with an RBI single to score Mancini, and Nelson knocked in Rigdon to push the score to 10-0.
THE VANDY BOYS RUN RULE TENNESSEE ⚓ @VandyBoys advance to the SEC tournament championship for the 13th time in program history! pic.twitter.com/xKaYCA4PaM
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 24, 2025
Postgame Reactions
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello acknowledged his team was flat from the outset and credited Vanderbilt’s execution. “Poor effort. Not what everybody woke up early for, but also hats off to Vanderbilt,” he said. “They outplayed us today… Just overall needed to be better in every area.”
Vanderbilt starter Cody Bowker described his early struggles and quick adjustment after walking the first two batters of the game. “I was trying to be too perfect,” he said. “Then Barczi came out and said, ‘You’ve got an amazing defense behind you.’ That flipped my mindset.”
First baseman Riley Nelson summed up the rivalry and satisfaction of the win. “We don’t like those guys, and they don’t like us,” he said. “I think it’s the best rivalry in college baseball right now.”
Vanderbilt is No. 9 in the Top 25 Rankings and Tennessee is ranked at No. 21 from May 19 that were published by D1Baseball.com
The Commodores are ranked at No. 1 in the country with strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9 and the Volunteers are second at 11.8, prior to the start of Saturday’s game.
Vanderbilt’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is at No. 4 in the nation at 3.26 and Tennessee’s is at No. 5 at 3.25.
Vanderbilt will try to aim for their fifth conference championship title on Sunday afternoon and their first since 2023, where Austin was the MVP and Mississippi will look to aim for their fourth conference tournament championship.
2025 SEC Baseball Tournament Schedule
All Game Start Times Are Eastern Daylight Time
*Second Game Of Each Session Will Begin Approximately 30 Minutes After The Conclusion Of First Game
Tuesday-Sunday, May 20-25
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.
Tuesday, May 20 – First Round
Game 1: No. 9 Alabama 4, No. 16 Missouri 1 – Final
*Game 2: No. 12 Oklahoma 5, No. 13 Kentucky 1 – Final
Game 3: No. 10 Florida 11, No. 15 South Carolina 3 – Final
Wednesday, May 21 – Second Round
Game 4: No. 14 Texas A&M 9, No. 11 Mississippi State 0 – Final – First Round
Game 5: No. 8 Tennessee 15, No. 9 Alabama 10 – Final
*Game 6: No. 12 Oklahoma 3, No. 5 Georgia 2 – Final
Game 7: No. 10 Florida 1, No. 7 Ole Miss 3 – Final
Thursday, May 22 – Quarterfinals
Game 8: No. 14 Texas A&M 3, No. 6 Auburn 2 – Final – Second Round
*Game 9: No. 8 Tennessee 7, No. 1 Texas 5 – F/12
*Game 10: No. 12 Oklahoma 1, No. 4 Vanderbilt 6 – Final
Friday, May 23 – Quarterfinals
Game 11: No. 7 Ole Miss 5, No. 2 Arkansas 2 – Final
*Game 12: No. 14 Texas A&M 3, No. 3 LSU 4 – Final
Saturday, May 24 – Semifinals
Game 13: No. 8 Tennessee 0, No. 4 Vanderbilt 10 – F/7
*Game 14: No. 7 Ole Miss 2, No. 3 LSU 0 – Final
Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game
Game 15: No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 7 Ole Miss – 3 p.m. – ESPN2
SEC MLBPipeline.com Top 150 Draft Prospects
No. 7 – OF – Jace LaViolette – Texas A&M
No. 8 – RHP – Kyson Witherspoon – Oklahoma
No. 9 – LHP – Kade Anderson – Louisiana State
No. 10 – LHP – Liam Doyle – Tennessee
No. 16 – 2B – Gavin Kilen – Tennessee
No. 20 – OF/C – Ike Irish – Auburn
No. 24 – SS – Wehiwa Aloy – Arkansas
No. 28 – OF – Max Belyeu – Texas
No. 33 – RHP – Riley Quick – Alabama
No. 35 – 1B/3B – Andrew Fischer – Tennessee
No. 36 – OF/3B – Ethan Petry – South Carolina
No. 44 – LHP – Zach Root – Arkansas
No. 54 – SS/3B – Dean Curley – Tennessee
No. 55 – RHP – A.J. Russell – Tennessee
No. 60 – OF – Charles Davalan – Arkansas
No. 66 – 2B – Daniel Dickinson – Louisiana State
No. 69 – RHP – Marcus Phillips – Tennessee
No. 72 – LHP – J.D. Thompson – Vanderbilt
No. 78 – RHP – Chase Shores – Louisiana State
No. 79 – LHP- Jared Spencer – Texas
No. 90 – 1B – Jared Jones – Louisiana State
No. 99 – LHP – Justin Lamkin – Texas A&M
No. 100 – OF – RJ Austin – Vanderbilt
No. 101 – C – Easton Carmichael – Oklahoma
No. 102 – LHP – Pico Kohn – Mississippi State
No. 113 – RHP – Nate Snead – Tennessee
No. 116 – RHP – Mason Morris – Mississippi
No. 117 – SS – Jalin Morris – Texas
No. 123 – OF/1B – Tre Phelps – Georgia
No. 131 – SS – Colby Shelton – Florida
No. 133 – RHP – Malachi Witherspoon – Oklahoma
No. 141 – 3B – Brent Iredale – Arkansas
