It looked like too much to overcome.

Tennessee, which had scored five runs in the sixth inning to take a four-run lead in a series-deciding Game 3 at Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, had unraveled in the sixth and seventh.

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Errors piled up, and the Rebels combined for four runs in two frame to take the lead and put the No. 5 Vols down to their last three outs in the ninth.

Tennessee had some life when Dalton Bargo led off with a walk. Then the Vols came all the way back to life on a Reese Chapman swing. His two-run home run put Tennessee ahead and headlined a key SEC series triumph of the No. 6 Rebels, 10-8 at Swayze Field.

The Vols (31-5, 11-4 SEC) were previously 0-3 in games where they trailed in the ninth inning this season.

Tennessee overcame four errors to record 11 hits as Chapman, Cannon Peebles and Andrew Fischer combined for three home runs.

Relieving pitcher Nate Snead (3-0) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits and striking out two in 2.2 innings of work.

The return of Gavin Kilen to the Tennessee lineup was among the headliners for the Vols this past weekend.

After two productive performances after missing 10 of the previous 11 games with a hamstring injury, the Tennessee infielder turned designated hitter for the series, reached first in the top of the first inning and then made his way over to second on a throwing error.

In scoring position with one out, left fielder Dalton Bargo paid him off with a fly out to left that allowed Kilen to score and give the Vols an early 1-0 lead.

In a similar sequence in the bottom half of the first, third baseman Luke Hill grounded to Dean Curley at third that looked like a routine play to give Ole MIss two quick outs, but Curley's throw was high and wide, and Hill reached second, instead.

It proved to cost Tennessee nothing. Tegan Kuhns followed it up with back-to-back strikeouts and Hill was left stranded at second to keep the Vols in front through one.

Jay Abernathy, making the start at second base, gave Tennessee its second base runner in as many innings and its first hit with a one-out single to left. Shortstop Ariel Antigua moved him over to second on sacrifice bunt, but a diving catch from Isaac Humphrey off of the bat of center fiedler Hunter Ensley left the Vols empty-handed in the frame.

The Rebels returned the favor in the bottom second, with right fielder Ryan Moerman recording their first hit with a single to Antigua at short. Two outs and three at-bats later, catcher Austin Fawley homered for the third time in the series, sending a two-run shot over the wall in left-center to put Ole Miss up, 2-1.

First baseman Andrew Fischer answered in the third. After Kilen grounded out at first to lead off the inning, Fischer homered to left-center to draw Tennessee even at 2-2.

Humphrey put the Rebels in position to answer back in the bottom third, singling through the right side with two outs. In an attempt to steal second, a Cannon Peebles throw from behind the plate ended up in the grass center field and Humphrey got over to third.

First baseman Will Furniss scored Humphrey on an RBI single up the middle and put Ole Miss back in front, 3-2.

Moerman extended the inning with a hard-hit ball to third that Curley was unable to gather in, leading to Brayden Krenzel taking over for Kuhns out of the bullpen with two outs.

Left fielder Mitchell Sanford singled to left to seemingly add another run in the frame and extend the Rebels' lead, but Bargo's throw from left beat Furniss and Peebles tagged him out at the plate to end the inning.

The Vols were unable to respond in the fourth, but Krenzel sent Ole Miss down in order with a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom half to keep the Tennessee deficit at one run heading into the fifth.

Ensley worked a long at-bat to lead off the fifth and drew a walk to put one on with no outs. Two fly outs followed, but Ensley got into scoring position via steal at second, then reached third on a passed ball.

Curley walked to post runners on the corners, and that was enough for the Rebels to pull pitcher Hudson Calhoun. He was replaced by Walker Hooks with Bargo due up.

Bargo evaded an out when Hill overran a ball in foul territory, but his ground ball into the grass off of first was scooped up by second baseman Judd Utermark and tossed to Furniss to pull off the escape act.

Hill doubled off the wall in right-center with one out in the bottom fifth, but Krenzel recovered with a couple of strikeouts to strand two and get out of the inning unscathed.

Right-fielder Reese Chapman singled in the sixth, and Peebles came through with Tennessee's first hit of the afternoon with a runner on, mashing a two-run home run into left to pull the Vols ahead, 4-3.

Abernathy followed it up with a walk and reached third on a wild pitch and sac-bunt from Antigua. He scored on a Kilen single to second and Tennessee's lead swelled to two runs at 5-3.

The Vols weren't finished, either. Fischer double to center and he and Kilen were in scoring position when Ole Miss went back to the bullpen, turning to Taylor Rabe in place of Hooks.

With Curley at the plate, a wild pitch scored Kilen from third and Fischer followed with a single up the middle to score Fischer and open a 7-3 Vols' lead.

Working from behind for the first time since the second inning, the Rebels punched back in the bottom sixth, starting with Sanford's triple to center. Utermark scored him in the next at-bat with a double to left, cutting the Tennessee advantage to three at 7-4.

Ole Miss scored two more runs on a Hayden Federico RBI single and a fielder's choice. A fly out kept the Vols in front, but only by a run at 7-6 and Tennessee went down in order in the seventh.

The Rebels put two on in the bottom seventh, and Nate Snead came in to try and hold them off. Utermark recorded his second RBI with a fly out to right that scored the tying run in Moerman and tying the Vols, 7-7 through seven.

Looking for a breakthrough after the game had suddenly settled into a stalemate, Frederico singled to center in the bottom eighth, but was thrown out by Peebles in a steal attempt to get Ole Miss down to two outs.

Hill walked and a wild pitch got him to second. Humphrey hit a grounder to short and just barely beat the throw to Fischer at first, giving the Rebels runners on the corners with two down.

A review upheld that Fischer's glove didn't touch Humphrey as he made his way to first, keeping Ole Miss in the inning. A wild pitch from Snead--his second of the inning-followed, and Hill scored the go-ahead run for an 8-7 Rebels lead.

Down to its last three outs in the ninth, Bargo led off with a four-pitch walk to post the tying-run on first. Then Chapman was due up. Facing a 2-1 pitch, he homered to left-center and Tennessee led, 9-8.

Ensley provided some insurance, singling to right with two outs and scoring Manny Marin to up the Vols' lead to 10-8.

Snead came back from a sloppy eighth to record the final three outs in the bottom ninth, stranding the tying run at first.

Tennessee will return to Knoxville for a five-game home-stand this week.

The Vols will host Bellarmine on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium before a three-game series against Kentucky.

The series opener is slated for Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET with Game 2 on Saturday 6 p.m. and Game 3 on Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will air on SEC Network+.

The Wildcats (19-14, 6-9) are coming off of a series loss to No. 2 Texas over the weekend.

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