Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt ends with postgame dustup, Commodores leave field to boos

No. 11 Vanderbilt will be leaving Rocky Top with a Top-15 series win in conference after taking the rubber match this evening against No. 15 Tennessee. The home field team, and crowd as well, didn’t take well to that, though, with the two teams having to be separated postgame.

The Commodores won 7-5 on Sunday to win the series at 2-1 over the Volunteers after Ethan McElvain stranded the tying and winning runs, with the bases loaded, after striking out Cannon Peebles. Vandy came out of the dugout to celebrate with them and UT then unable to do a handshake after words were exchanged on both sides.

Exchanging of words as Tennessee loses the series to Vanderbilt.

Commodores exit the field to a chorus of boos they egg on. pic.twitter.com/JEGs1AjgyP

— Ryan Sylvia (@RyanTSylvia) May 12, 2025

Inclement weather delayed this game for about two hours in Knoxville. Amidst that delay in the sixth inning, though, is when Vanderbilt created their lead with a pair of home runs with them hitting another one in the ninth. Tennessee put themselves in a position to tie, or even win, the game with a pair of singles and a walk loading the bases. Still, McElvain closed that out with that second strikeout.

This game was also more than just an in-state rivalry for these two teams. Vanderbilt separated themselves by a game from Tennessee in the conference standings with the Commodores now at 16-11 and the Volunteers now at 15-12. Also, ahead of the final weekend of the regular season next week, the two were playing for seeding in the NCAA Baseball Tournament with Vanderbilt better positioning themselves with the win. The prediction by On3’s Jonathan Wagner of D1Baseball’s Top-25 for tomorrow reflected that as Vandy moved into the Top-10 to No. 8 while Tennessee fell to No. 20.

It’s obvious why there’d be a bit of contention between these two teams coming off the field this evening. That said, Vanderbilt won the only thing that mattered in the end with that third game clinching the series for them on the road.

Everything Tony Vitello said on the series-finale loss to Vanderbilt

Tennessee’s Tony Vitello met with members of the media on Sunday night following the series-finale rubber match 7-5 loss with Vanderbilt. Here’s video from that postgame press conference with Vitello.

The final home game of the regular season is on Tuesday for the No. 15 Volunteers as Tennessee plays host to Belmont at 5 p.m. ET. That’ll be ahead of the final weekend in the regular season at Arkansas.