Vanderbilt Beats Ole Miss in 2025 SEC Baseball Title Game to Win Championship Bracket

Vanderbilt is the SEC baseball tournament champion for the second time in three years.

The No. 4 Commodores, who also won the event in 2023, defeated No. 7 Ole Miss 3-2 in Sunday's title game at Hoover Metropolitan Complex in Hoover, Alabama. They prevented the Rebels from winning their first SEC baseball tournament championship since 2018.

Brodie Johnston and Jacob Humphrey provided the offense with home runs, and the entire pitching staff kept Ole Miss in check to secure the win.

Vanderbilt was riding high from a blowout 10-0 victory over rival No. 8 Tennessee in the semifinals after the Volunteers eliminated top-seeded Texas in the quarterfinals. Ole Miss had plenty of momentum as well, though, as it defeated second-seeded Arkansas in the quarterfinals and third-seeded LSU in the semifinals.

The full single-elimination bracket that featured 16 teams can be found on the SEC's official website.

With both teams playing at such a high level coming into Sunday's contest, getting off to a quick start was important.

And Vanderbilt wasted no time doing just that.

Johnston launched a two-run homer in the first inning to give the eventual victors a lead they never relinquished. He wasn't the only one to bring the power, as Humphrey hit a solo home run in the fifth.

That Humphrey homer was important, as it answered Ole Miss' run in the top half of the frame that cut the deficit to 2-1 and provided the difference even after Isaac Humphrey's solo homer in the eighth. That run in the fifth was the only run Vanderbilt starter Austin Nye allowed in a solid performance.

Nye struck out five and allowed the one run and two hits in 4.2 innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

That bullpen led the Commodores to the conference tournament title from there with Luke Guth pitching 1.2 scoreless innings, Levi Huesman escaping trouble with a double play in the seventh, and Sawyer Hawks pitching a scoreless eighth and securing the save in the ninth.

Vanderbilt now figures to be one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament with the College World Series in its sights. 

And it might just win it if it pitches like it did Sunday.