Tennessee's series against Texas A&M began with a run-rule and ended with one.

The No. 1 Vols found themselves on the losing end of the second on Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

After dropping Game 2 and the first of a doubleheader earlier in the day, Tennessee's pitching staff unraveled early, giving up seven home runs in Game 3 in a 17-6 defeat in eight innings.

It marked the Vols' (28-4, 9-3 SEC) first SEC series loss since March 17, 2024 at Alabama. Tennessee had won 12-straight series.

Wyatt Henseler and Ben Royo homered twice, while Caden Sorrell, Bear Harrison and Kaeden Kent each hit home runs as part of a 13-hit performance from the the Aggies' (16-15, 3-9) lineup.

The 17 runs were the most that the Vols had given up since they allowed 22 runs on April 7, 2018 vs. Florida.

Dean Curley drove in two of the Vols' runs on an RBI single in the third inning and a ground-out RBI in the fifth. Hunter Ensley's three-run home run in the seventh extended the game another inning, but Texas A&M responded with a three-run eighth.

Tennessee used six arms, including starter Tegan Kuhns (2-1), who gave up four runs on four hits in just 2.1 innings.

Tegan Kuhns struck out the first two batters he faced and Hunter Ensley made what looked like a diving catch in center field to end the top of the first inning.

A review overturned Ensley's catch, giving Texas A&M a base-runner and Caden Sorrell singled through the left side in the following at-bat. Bear Harrison, who hit a home run earlier in the day in the first of the doubleheader, homered again to provided the Aggies a 3-0 lead.

Kuhns bounced back in the second, setting Texas A&M down in order and sending Tennessee back up to the plate. But the Vols were unable to capitalize on the momentum.

Reese Chapman lined into a double play and Ben Royo made a sliding grab at second to leave the Vols empty-handed after Andrew Fischer led off the frame with a walk.

Kuhns ran into more trouble in the third. He walked two and gave up a single that loaded the bases for the Aggies with two outs, leading to Brayden Krenzel taking over out of the bullpen.

Krenzel got out of the jam, striking out Blake Binderup swinging and holding the Tennessee deficit to four runs. This time, the momentum carried over.

Chris Newstrom singled to right and Cannon Peebles singled up the middle in back-to-back at-bats, setting up Ariel Antigua with a pair of runners and no outs.

Antigua laid down a bunt that allowed Newstrom and Peebles to both move into scoring position. Dean Curley followed it up with a single to left and Newstrom scored to cut the Texas A&M lead to 4-1.

The Vols scored another after Curley was caught stealing second, allowing Peebles to score safely to pull within two runs at 4-2. Dalton Bargo hit a two-out double to the wall in left, but Ensley struck out to strand him on second.

The Aggies answered back in the fourth with a lead-off no-doubter from Royo to swell their lead to 5-2. In the same frame, Wyatt Henseler mashed a three-run shot off of the batter's eye with one out and the Texas A&M lead was 8-2.

After giving up a two-out walk, Krenzel was pulled and replaced by Dylan Loy out of the bullpen, but Loy gave up a two-run homer off of the bat of Kaeden Kent on his first pitch, opening up a 10-2 Aggies lead.

The Texas A&M slugfest continued in the fifth. With Brayden Sharp pitching, Royo, Henseler and Sorrell each homered in the frame, combining for four runs to take an emphatic, 14-2 lead and put Tennessee in danger of being run-ruled.

The Vols put runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom fifth, and Curley drove in Newstrom on a ground-out RBI at second, but Tennessee left two on base.

Tanner Franklin, who finished off the fifth, gave up a lead-off walk and then struck out the next three batters he faces to keep the Aggies scoreless in the sixth.

The Vols were down to their last out in the seventh and facing run-rule before Ensley homered into the porches in left to score three runs and keep Tennessee in it for at least another inning at 14-6.

Hayden Schott singled up the middle with the bases loaded and two runs scored to put Texas A&M back up 10 runs at 16-6 with two outs. Terrence Kiel II added one more with an RBI single to right.

Tennessee will play Alabama State in a midweek tilt Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) before going back on the road for a three-game series at Ole Miss next weekend.

The Rebels are 24-7 overall and 8-4 in league play after winning two of three at Kentucky this weekend.

Tennessee took two of three from Ole Miss in the last meeting between the two team last season.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.