KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee handed Auburn an unexpected setback in its postseason plans, tripping up the Tigers, 5-2, in the series opener Thursday night.

The Tigers (28-26, 13-15 SEC) need to win one of the final two games of the series to assure a spot in the SEC Tournament, and they need to take both to clinch an overall record above .500 for the season, a requirement for placement in the NCAA Tournament.

The Volunteers (24-28, 6-22) had lost 11 straight SEC games entering Thursday, a streak dating back to a 5-4 win over Georgia on April 22.

Auburn loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a Cullen Wacker double and walks to Zach Alvord and Justin Fradejas. But Vols reliever Nick Williams struck out Dan Gamache and got a fly out from Casey McElroy to close out his fourth save of the year.

“Casey hit that ball in the gap and they ran it down,” Auburn head coach John Pawlowski said. “There is nothing we could do.”
Tennessee got off to a fast start in the first inning, using a bases-loaded, two-run single by Drew Steckenrider and an RBI single from Davis Morgan to take a 3-0 lead in the first three outs.

“We didn’t have a good first inning and we got behind a little bit but Jon Luke did a good job and gave us a chance to win,” Pawlowski said. “He kept the game close, but we just couldn’t get anything going offensively for a little while. Give their pitcher (Steven Gruver) some credit I thought he did a good job.”

Auburn cut into the lead with runs in the fifth and sixth — on sacrifice flies from Creede Simpson and Wes Gilmer — to trim the lead to 3-2.

The Tigers put the tying run in scoring position with a one-out Brooks Beisner double in the second, but Gruver coaxed a fly out and strikeout to end the threat.

Auburn left McElroy — another potential tying run — on third in the sixth. The Tigers stranded 10 runners over the final four innings.

Morgan came through again in the seventh, knocking a two-out, bases-loaded single to score two and extend the Volunteers’ lead to 5-2.

Jacobs (1-4) struggled with his control, walking three in the first inning and lasting only 5 1/3 innings, his shortest outing since April 23.
The junior gave up three runs on eight hits, striking out one and walking four.

Gruver (5-7) gave up two runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking three.

Morgan was 2-for-3 with three RBI for the Vols, and Khayyan Norfork was 3-for-4 with two runs, and Chris Fritts was 2-for-4.

McElroy was 2-for-5 for Auburn, which will face Tennessee again on Friday at 5 p.m.

“No time to think about this one too much,” Pawlowski said. “We’ve got to find a way to be ready to go (Friday).”