Vanderbilt Commodores Bringing the SEC Championship Title Back to Nashville

The game everyone had been waiting for, the championship game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Vanderbilt Commodores, had fans of every team filing into the Met stadium in Hoover as the two unlikely teams were ready to take home an SEC championship title.

From the first inning, this game was going to be a quick and close game with each pitcher taking down the batters just as quickly as they were putting them up, except for Vanderbilt, who struck fast in the bottom of the first inning.

With two outs, freshman Brodie Johnston stepped up to the plate, and the first pitch thrown to him was knocked out of the park. Putting the Commodores ahead with a 2-0 lead and putting them in the running to clutch a chance to walk away winning it all like they did in 2023.

"We've gotten hot halfway through the season and all of us are just so connected," he says. "I mean after that homer my mind was just blank I didn't know what to think except this is awesome."

This Vanderbilt team was making quite the back half rumble in Hoover. Even with the strong pitching from Ole Miss, the bats were finding a way around it. Walker Hooks, on the mound for the Rebels, delivered four innings, no walks and three hits.

Through four innings, Ole Miss still remained scoreless, and it looked like it was going to be another shutout game in Hoover. But as senior Mitchell Sanford stepped up to the plate in the fifth inning, knocking a single to center field and sending Hayden Federico home to close in the gap.

But just as Ole Miss thought they were going to make a comeback to win the championship, which would be the first time since 2018, right fielder Jacob Humphrey stepped up to the plate with no outs and a 1-2 count and homered down the right field line to put the score up 3-1.

With this extra notch on the board, the Rebel fans were silenced and the chance that once stood of claiming the championship title slipped out of reach. But even with the chance slipping away, the Ole Miss fans never backed down.

Just when they thought it was over, Isaac Humphrey hit a solo homer to left field, bringing the score to 3-2 with two outs and one man on base. This was the last chance for the Rebels to win a SEC championship since 2018.

It just wasn't enough to push them on the edge and Vanderbilt won it all, thanks to a fly out ball. Final Score 3-2 and the Vanderbilt Commodores are the 2025 SEC champions.