Tennessee's first Southeastern Conference baseball series of the season had a little bit of everything.
Including a stinging loss.
Gage Miller's three-run home run to left field with two out in the eighth inning off Nate Snead enabled No. 14 Alabama to rally past the No. 5 Volunteers 7-6 Sunday afternoon and take the rubber match of the three-game set in Tuscaloosa. Tennessee cruised to an 11-3 victory Friday night to extend its winning streak to 17 games, but the Vols were error-plagued during Saturday night's 6-3 setback and could not seal the deal in the finale.
Tennessee trailed 7-5 following Miller's blast but pulled within a run in the ninth when Dylan Dreiling drew a bases-loaded walk against Aidan Moza. The Vols had benefited earlier in the inning from a dropped foul ball due to an Alabama collision and a Crimson Tide throwing error, but Moza shut the door on the Vols by striking out Robin Villeneuve.
"We made a poor pitch to a really good hitter, and he made us pay," Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said afterward. "Alabama is good, and they were better than us this weekend. We need to get better in a bunch of situations, whether it's baserunning or hitting with some calm.
"As far as our pitchers, we're open for business and looking for guys who can help us in certain situations."
The Vols had grabbed a 5-4 advantage in the seventh, when a Kavares Tears groundout scored Blake Burke, whose one-out single to right was followed by Billy Amick's double down the left-field line.
Tennessee fell to 18-3 overall, while the Tide are now 17-3. Alabama improved to 80-45 all-time against the Vols but to just 5-9 against Tennessee under Vitello.
The series loss soured an impressive weekend for Dreiling, the sophomore left fielder who made a running catch against the fence moments before Miller went deep. Dreiling amassed seven RBIs in the three games, collecting two Friday, one Saturday and four more Sunday.
"The good thing about Dylan is that he's incredibly selfless," Vitello said. "We've kind of moved him into a bunch of different spots in the lineup depending on wherever we feel he's best suited that particular day. To be honest, dating back to his high school days, he's best suited to just be in the lineup.
"He's a natural hitter, and he's turned himself into a really physical kid."
Dreiling's three-run double to left-center field in the third provided Tennessee a 3-1 lead, and a Villeneuve double down the left-field line later in the inning gave the Vols their largest advantage at 4-1.
Tennessee will play its next eight games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, beginning Tuesday night at 6 against Xavier. The Vols will host Ole Miss next weekend and Georgia on the final weekend of the month.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.