No. 8 UK baseball remained consistent in mid-week play on Tuesday evening, as the Cats got back in the win column against Indiana, defeating the Hoosiers 5-2 at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Freshman left-hander Zach Thompson, after only three days of rest after his relief appearance on Saturday, pitched exceptionally well, striking out 10 batters in the 6 innings that he pitched, while allowing only 3 hits. His ERA is now 3.88.

The Cats also had strong performances from Chris Machamer and Logan Salow, who helped secure the win for UK.

Thompson’s last three outings have been extremely impressive, and he and Coach Nick Mingione attribute that to changes in his mechanics. Thompson said, “It’s been huge. We’ve been changing stuff left and right. Things are finally starting to fall into place a little bit better and tonight was the lowest walks I’ve ever had and that’s been huge.”

In the top of the 1st, Indiana’s Matt Lloyd hit a home run to left center field, but shortly after in the bottom of the inning, the Cats answered with singles from Tristan Pompey, Luke Becker and Troy Squires to give UK a 2-1 lead.

The Cats scored again in the bottom of the 2nd with back-to-back-to-back doubles from Pompey, Evan White, and Zach Reks, giving Thompson some insurance runs with a 4-1 lead. 

After Indiana hit another solo home run in the fourth inning, the Cats put the game away for good in the 7th inning when Pompey scored on a sacrifice fly from Reks, scoring the fifth and final run for the Cats.

The Cats will focus its attention to their weekend series against Tennessee. UK hopes to take another SEC series, thus improving their record and avoiding another letdown as the season comes to a close next week. The Cats will finish off their season against Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, then head to Gainesville, Florida to close out regular-season play.