The University of Tennessee baseball team continued its Southeastern Conference slide Saturday afternoon, losing the rubber match with fifth-ranked Arkansas 8-4 at Fayetteville’s Baum-Walker Stadium to drop its fifth consecutive league series.
It was the second week in a row, and third time during the team’s streak of series losses, that the No. 17 Volunteers (41-15, 16-14) have lost the final two games against an SEC opponent after winning the opener. Their most recent SEC series win was at Ole Miss on the second weekend of April.
With the regular season complete, the reigning national champions will look to turn things around at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, where the eighth-seeded Vols will play their opening game at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between No. 9 seed Alabama and No. 16 seed Missouri.
The Vols beat Arkansas 10-7 on Thursday before losing 8-6 on Friday. Tennessee once again could not hold an early lead Saturday, when the Razorbacks rallied for five runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good.
Freshman right-hander Tegan Kuhns pitched better than his final line would indicate but took the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on three hits and three walks in two innings.