Kentucky baseball (29-21, 13-15 SEC) fell in heartbreaking fashion 8-7 to No. 9 Vanderbilt (37-16, 17-11 SEC) in game one of a three-game series.
The Wildcats led for 8 2/3 innings until the final swing of the night as Braden Holcomb hit a three-run walk off home run to win the game off of Simon Gregersen.
Due to sweeping then No. 17 Oklahoma at home, this series no longer became critical for Kentucky to win/sweep to make the NCAA Tournament, which relieved some pressure for the Wildcats.
The game could not have gotten off to a better start for the Bat Cats as Tyler Bell and Luke Lawrence reached on an infield single along with a hit-by-pitch to start the game.
Cole Hage got the Cats on the board with a double and James McCoy quickly made it 4-0 with a three-run home run deep into left-center.
Following a strikeout, Carson Hansen launched a home run of his own over the high wall in left to make it 5-0 Kentucky after one.
Nate Harris took the hill for the series opener and worked around singles in the first two innings to keep Vandy off the board.
However, that changed in the third after a walk turned into a two-run home run that shrunk the Wildcats’ lead to 5-2.
Hage hit his second double of the ballgame with one out in the fourth and stole third, but a bad throw by the catcher allowed Hage to score.
Ryan Schwartz reached on a hit-by-pitch to leadoff the fifth and he stole second before scoring on a single by Raphael Pelletier that boosted the Kentucky lead to 7-2.
After the homer in the third, Harris tossed a scoreless fourth before the Commadores’ bats came alive in the fifth.
Mike Mancini homered to start the inning before back-to-back doubles brought home another run and ended Harris’ outing.
Jackson Nove came on and got an out before giving up a single that capped off a three-run inning that slimmed the Cats’ lead to 7-5.
Both teams went three-up three-down in the sixth, but it looked like the Bat Cats were going to extend their lead in the seventh as they loaded the bases with no outs.
Bell struck out and Lawrence hit into a double play to end the threat where it stood and kept the momentum in the home dugout.
Nove worked himself into and out of a jam in the seventh after allowing a walk and single.
The right-hander tossed a three-up, three-down eighth to end his fantastic outing.
Overall, Nove pitched four scoreless innings in relief in a critical role as it seemed like the game was slipping away from the Wildcats.
Gregersen took over in the ninth and walked Rustan Rigdon before getting the first out of the inning.
The righty hit Riley Nelson but struck out Brodie Johnston before Holcomb delivered the big blow to end the game.
Following the loss, Kentucky will try to even the series against Vanderbilt in game two on Friday, May 16, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. ET.
