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Killed by Kilen: Texas falls to Tennessee in SEC tournament thanks to Gavin Kilen's heroics

by:Evan Vieth•05/22/25
Ethan Walker
Ethan Walker (Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

It took nearly four and a half hours, but Texas baseball is out of the SEC Tournament.

Facing the reigning national champs, the Longhorns and Tennessee Volunteers played an action-packed extra-innings thriller, taking twelve innings to decide the winner between the two UTs.

At the end of the day, though, Tennessee had Gavin Kilen, and Texas didn’t.

Kilen, one of the best players in the nation, accounted for all three of the Volunteers’ extra-inning runs in their 7–5 victory, starting with a solo shot in the tenth and ending with a game-winning two-RBI double in the twelfth.

The tenth inning was the start of the craziness for the two clubs. After Kilen’s homer, Texas needed to score to stay in the game. Rylan Galvan began the inning with a single, a rarity up to that point, as Tennessee pitcher Brandon Arvidson had been untouchable. In 5 1/3 innings of work, Arvidson struck out nine and allowed just three hits and no runs, blanketing a Texas team that started the game hot with the bats.

With Galvan on first, Arvidson made a costly mistake, drastically overthrowing the first baseman and allowing Galvan to advance to third. One pitch later, Kimble Schuessler tied the game. Texas was able to bring another runner on, and with runners on first and second and one out, they looked primed for a walk-off. Unfortunately for the Horns, RHP Nate Snead shut the door on the next two batters, striking out Tommy Farmer IV and Will Gasparino to end the inning.

One inning later, the Longhorns again had two on and one out, but a laser from Galvan found the glove of Tennessee’s shortstop, who was able to double up Jayden Duplantier at second.

In the twelfth, LHP Dylan Volantis—who is often lights out for the Longhorns—began to crumble. Two quick base hits and a bunt put two runners in scoring position for Kilen’s mighty bat. You already know what happened next: a ball launched to deep center, one Kilen thought was gone, that barely missed the glove of a hustling Gasparino. Texas went out quietly in the bottom half and was eliminated from the tournament.

Not all hope is lost for the Longhorns, as Texas found quite a few positives from this game. LHP Ethan Walker surprised everyone with 4 1/3 innings of fantastic pitching in his first start for Texas. If not for an error from Jalin Flores, he would’ve had a near-perfect stat line.

Texas now gets some rest ahead of regional play, which will begin on May 30, just over a week from now. The Longhorns may still have the No. 1 overall seed locked down thanks to 22 conference wins and 18 Quad 1 wins—most in the nation. The Longhorns will be hosting a regional in Austin and potentially a super regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field as well, and there’s a lot of baseball left to be played for the Horns.

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