Auburn had the lead, a shot at a share for the SEC West title, an all-but-assured spot in the NCAA Tournament and three outs to go, but couldn’t close it out against the last-place team in the SEC.

Andrew Toles knocked a one-out single in the ninth to send Tennessee off with a 4-3 win over the Tigers, its second in three days in the regular season-ending series.

With Arkansas’ win over Ole Miss and losses by Alabama and Mississippi State, the Tigers finished in a three-way tie for second in the SEC West, a game behind Arkansas (15-15 SEC).

The Tigers claimed the 8 seed in the SEC Tournament, and will face SEC East co-champion and overall No. 1 seed South Carolina (44-12, 22-8) in Hoover on Wednesday at 4:30.

The Gamecocks swept Auburn in a three-game set during the season.

Here are the seeds for the SEC Tournament:

1. South Carolina     22-8*
2. Arkansas           15-15^
3. Florida             22-8*
4. Vanderbilt         22-8*
5. Georgia             16-14
6. Mississippi State   14-16
7. Alabama           14-16
8. Auburn             14-16

* - won share of SEC East title
^ - won SEC West title

Saturday, The Volunteers (25-29, 7-23 SEC) entered the bottom of the ninth down 3-2 to the Tigers.

Auburn (29-27, 14-16) starter Slade Smith hit Davis Morgan to lead off the ninth for Tennessee, then threw the ball into centerfield trying to get Morgan at second on a Zach Osborne bunt, putting Volunteer runners at first and third with no out.

Drew Steckenrider drove in the tying run with a groundout, chasing Smith and bringing in Dillon Ortman.

Toles, brother of Auburn women’s basketball point guard Morgan Toles, greeted Ortman with the game-winning single.

Besides ending Auburn’s shot at its first back-to-back division crowns since 1964-65, the loss means the Tigers could still go two-and-out at the tournament and finish at .500, disqualifying them from NCAA Tournament consideration.

“This one hurts, there’s no doubt about it,“ head coach John Pawlowski said. “Now, we’ve got to go up (to the SEC Tournament) and win one, find a way to go deep in the tournament.“

Cullen Wacker got the scoring started for the Tigers in the third inning with an RBI single that plated Creede Simpson. Wacker came around to score on a Tony Caldwell single – Auburn’s third straight with two outs – a play in which the throw beat him to the plate, but Tennessee catcher Wes Walker couldn’t hold on to the ball.

The Volunteers didn’t record their first hit off Smith until Toles hit a one-out single in the fifth.

Tennessee got on the board in the sixth with a Morgan single that scored Matt Duffy, who doubled earlier in the inning.

Auburn put a runner on third with less than two outs in the sixth and seventh but couldn’t manage to push a run across in either frame, leaving the bases full in the seventh.

Josh Liles made Auburn pay in the eighth, socking a leadoff home run – his first homer of the season – to knot the score at 2-2.

“We certainly had our chances,“ Pawlowski said. “We just couldn’t get enough hits with runners in scoring position.“

Caldwell drove in the go-ahead with a two-out double off Liles’ glove in left field in the ninth, plating Justin Fradejas to put Auburn up 3-2 with three outs to go.

Smith (2-2) followed the longest outing of his Auburn career – 8 2/3 innings last week against Alabama—with another strong start against Tennessee, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits while striking out eight – tied for his career high – and walking two in 8 1/3 innings.