After rising to a No. 2 national ranking with a 30-1 start, the Tennessee softball team has dropped three consecutive Southeastern Conference series for the first time since 2005.
Thirteenth-ranked Auburn beat the No. 12 Lady Volunteers 6-0 Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field to win the three-game weekend series, dropping Tennessee to 5-7 in SEC play halfway through the conference schedule.
The Tigers (36-8, 9-6) scored five runs in the fifth inning to pull away. Sophomore pitcher Caylan Arnold (14-4) took the loss for Tennessee, which is 33-8 overall.
The Lady Vols won 2-1 in eight innings Friday courtesy of a two-out single from Chelsea Seggern that brought home Aubrey Leach, who scored both Tennessee runs in the game and finished 2-for-3 with a double. Seggern also had two hits, and Meghan Gregg had an RBI.
Junior Matty Moss (15-3) was the winning pitcher Friday, combining with starter Arnold to hold the Tigers to four hits. Moss allowed the run on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.
Moss was tagged with the loss Saturday as Auburn won 2-0 behind Casey McCrackin's two-run homer in the fourth.
Tennessee plays Memphis on Tuesday in Columbia, Tenn., before hosting LSU in a three-game SEC series that starts Friday.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.