Umpire exits game mid-inning in Texas vs. Tennessee with apparent injury, interrupts SEC Tournament

Thursday’s 2025 SEC Baseball Tournament quarterfinals game between Tennessee and Texas was halted for more than 15 minutes in the middle of fifth inning after the home plate umpire left the game with concussion-like symptoms, according to the SEC Network broadcast.

SEC home-plate umpire Jason Bradley left the field shortly after a hard foul ball deflected off his facemask with Texas’ Max Belyeu at the plate. Play was delayed approximately 16 minutes while field official David Savage went into the Hoover Met officials locker room to put on his umpire gear.

SEC Network field reporter Kris Budden reported Bradley was “shaken up” after taking a foul ball off the facemask and will “go through concussion protocol.”

“He actually stayed around for a few batters, and then developed some dizziness from what we’re being told,” the SEC Network crew announced after multiple commercial breaks.

The interruption occured with one out and two on in the top of the fifth inning and top-seeded Longhorns leading 4-0 over eighth-seeded Tennessee. The SEC Network broadcast crew was initially confused by what was happening as the officials gave both teams the option to leave the field while Savage changed.

“The reserve umpire is on-site,” Budden said. “(Tennessee head coach) Tony Vitello was just telling me it takes awhile to put on the (umpire) gear, it takes more time than you’d maybe think, so that’s why they’re waiting for him.”

Following the delay, the Vols responded with two runs on a bases-loaded, 2-RBI single from junior Cannon Peebles to cut Texas’ lead in half. Tennessee added two more in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Dean Curley and a sacrifice fly from junior Reese Chapman to pull even at 4-all.

Tony Vitello: Tennessee’s response after error vs. Alabama was ‘incredible’

Tony Vitello acknowledged the error and how much it hurt. Dean Curley rushed the throw to first base and it went wide in the fifth inning Wednesday in Tennessee’s SEC Tournament opener against Alabama.

The Crimson Tide scored two runs on the two-out miscue, getting back to within a run at 5-4, then took the lead on a two-run double in the next at-bat. 

“That’s not good,” Vitello said during his press conference after the game. “It’s a punch in the gut.”

But it wasn’t a punch Tennessee couldn’t overcome. That’s where Vitello’s focus was afterward — his team’s response. 

— VolQuest’s Grant Ramey contributed to this report