Tennessee baseball beat and eliminated the No. 1 team in the SEC, Texas, on Thursday with a clutch 7-5 win. Brandon Arvidson showed up for the Vols on the mound, and Gavin Kilen hit a clutch extra innings home run to push the Vols over the Longhorns.
The Vols are coming off an offensive explosion in their SEC opener, scoring 15 runs on 20 hits to eliminate Alabama from the conference tournament. The Vols followed up its 20-hit game with an 18-strikeout game on the mound, showing the best of both worlds in Hoover, Alabama.
Tennessee's bats weren't as alive in this matchup, as the Vols totaled nine hits for seven runs in the win over Texas. The Longhorns' pitching staff is a huge upgrade from Alabama's, but that didn't prevent them from taking down the No. 1 team in the SEC.
Tennessee needed some more clutch pitching in Thursday afternoon's game. Brandon Arvidson stepped up for the Vols, delivering nine strikeouts and one run allowed through 5.1 innings of work to keep them in the game.
Arvidson's efforts carried the Vols through the second half of the game, allowing Tennessee to comeback after Liam Doyle allowed four runs in 3.2 innings of work.
Gavin Kilen showed up when the Vols needed him, hitting a 10th-inning solo home run to give Tennessee its first lead of the game.
Texas battled back in the 10th inning after a wild pickoff attempt from Arvidson, allowing the Longhorns to tie things up again in the bottom of the tenth. Arvidson kept the Vols in the game, throwing 85 pitches and setting a career record for his best and longest outing.
Two innings later, Kilen delivered again with a two-run double in the 12th inning to give the Vols a two-run lead.
Tennessee's win will also likely propel the Vols into a home regional after it looked like there would be no chance the Vols would host a Knoxville Regional after its rough end to the conference schedule.
The Vols could have another in-state rivalry game on deck with a matchup against the winner of the Vanderbilt-Oklahoma game next for Tennessee.