WATCH: SEC Tournament MVP Drew Gilbert celebrates Tennessee title with big bat flip

Drew Gilbert put the exclamation point on Tennessee‘s SEC Championship victory Sunday with a bat flip in the ninth inning following his solo home run. His run was the final score of the game for the Volunteers, who defeated Florida by a score of 8-5 to claim the conference crown.

The homer also capped a brilliant day for Gilbert, who was named the SEC Tournament MVP. It was one of two hits — the other being a double — on the day as he also led the Volunteers with four RBI. He finished the tournament as a whole with seven hits, nine RBI and the one home run.

Drew Gilbert with a BIG bat flip in the 9th‼️ pic.twitter.com/vN7u32h8Fl

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 29, 2022

After four scoreless innings, Tennessee got things going in the fifth beginning with a squeeze bunt that brought in the game’s first run. A couple of at-bats later, the Volunteers were able to breakthrough with a bases-clearing double. Gilbert slapped one over the head of the Florida left fielder before everyone on base came in to score. After that, they added three more in the sixth to increase their advantage to 7-0.

Florida would make a late rally, scoring all five of its runs over the final two innings. However, the deficit created by the Volunteers in the fifth and sixth innings ultimately proved too great to overcome.

Seth Stephenson led Tennessee at the plate with three hits in five at-bats. Gilbert had the only home run of the day, and the Volunteers finished with 11 total hits. Camden Sewell got the start at pitcher, doing five innings of work to pick up the win.

Drew Gilbert’s bat flip was just the beginning of what will be a lot of celebrating for Tennessee baseball, which claimed it’s first SEC Tournament title since 1995. The Volunteers finish the season with a 53-7 record heading into the NCAA Tournament, where they will undoubtedly be chosen to host a Regional.

Regional hosts are set to be announced Sunday evening, and the entire bracket will be released Monday.