Small ball was a distant memory at Cliff Hagan Stadium on an overcast Sunday afternoon, as the UK baseball team and visiting Tennessee combined for seven home runs.

The Cats (24-23, 9-15 Southeastern Conference) belted four home runs out of the park, in a 17-11 win, accounting for 10 of their 17 runs. Most importantly for UK, the win gave them the series win and moved them to within 1.5 games of the elusive eight spot in the SEC standings to qualify for the SEC Tournament.

“It’s a huge game,” UK baseball head coach Gary Henderson said. “It’s a big game for our confidence, a game we were behind and came back and won; it’s a good win for us.”

After a disastrous first inning that saw the Volunteers plate four runs on three hits and two UK errors, the Cats responded with a powerful second inning.

With only a man on first and two outs, the Cats rallied to score eight runs, all unearned. With one run already on the board in the inning, sophomore second baseman Chris Bisson hit a three-run triple to center field to tie the game at four. Three batters later, with runners on first and second and now a one run advantage, junior center fielder Keenan Wiley hit a three-run home run to right-center field. The eight runs scored by the Cats in the second inning equaled the number of runs they had scored in their previous 22 innings combined.

“I think the bigger issue is for the club,” Henderson said. “To know that you can still make something happen when it maybe isn’t just given to you or it doesn’t look like maybe it’s going to happen here, but you can still fight and make it happen, especially if you have a two-strike approach at the plate and you keep that thing alive.”

Tennessee followed the powerful UK second inning with solo home runs in the third and fourth inning and a four-run fifth inning that saw Tennessee score all four runs before the Cats recorded an out.

Continuing the trend of long innings and high-powered at-bats, UK used two home runs to tack five runs on the board in the fifth inning. The inning began with junior catcher, and Bristol, Tenn., native, Marcus Nidiffer hitting a solo home run to center field. Two walks, a single and one out later, the Cats had the bases loaded for freshman designated hitter Braden Kapteyn. Facing a one-one count, Kapteyn jacked a change-up well over the right field wall to clear the bags and give the Cats a five-run lead, 15-10 entering the sixth.

“We’re big on fighting and answering, especially when we’re at home,” sophomore second baseman Chris Bisson said. “Braden’s been swinging the bat good all year … It’s really big when we finally get those big knocks to drop. It’s really good for our pitchers, I think.”

The 17 runs scored by the Cats are five more than they had recorded in their previous four games combined, and the four home runs were one short of tying a season high from March 28. The rubber match for the Cats was a bit of the opposite from the prior two games in the series where starting pitchers James Paxton and Chris Rusin went eight and 7.1 innings, respectively. With freshman starting right-handed pitcher Alex Meyer out with a leg injury, the Cats entered the finale short handed on the mound.

Four innings and two pitchers into the game, the Cats handed the ball off to sophomore southpaw Logan Darnell. Darnell, who as Bisson said, has had a couple rough outings recently, found his zone and allowed only two hits and one run in five innings of work.

“It was big for him to boost his confidence,” Bisson said. “It was real big for us, because I know we’re real down on our pen right now and for us to get a good relief pitcher to just come in and shut the door was huge because we need that.”

The Cats now sit 1.5 games back out of the No. 8 spot in the SEC, and one game ahead of No. 10 Auburn. With the series victory over Tennessee and only two SEC series remaining in the season, the Cats’ next series against Auburn will have a lot on the line. Henderson said the games aren’t do or die yet, but they’re getting close.

“Today’s game gets you another weekend,” Henderson said. “It makes next Friday night’s game really important. We’ve got six to play and we’re only down a game and a half, it’s not ideal but we still have a chance, and actually a pretty good chance — we’re at home.”