No. 16 UK baseball dropped the series finale to Vanderbilt on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium, but still walked away with the series win thanks to wins on Friday and Saturday.

The series win over Vanderbilt puts UK at 3-0 in SEC series so far this season and makes it clear that the Cats are deserving of the attention they are receiving on a national stage.

UK head coach Nick Mingione’s club nearly pulled off the sweep, but it was the team’s attitude after the game that showcased how far this team has come in the first two months of the season. The main theme with the Cats so far this season has been its fight and killer instinct that showed on Sunday.

Taking two of three games from a team that has been the most consistent in the conference over the last five years is a big deal, but the way that the team reacted to the loss in game three is what symbolizes the change in the program.

“The one thing that is special about this team is that a lot of guys are frustrated that we did not win today,” Riley Mahan said. “Just winning a series is not good enough for us, we want to sweep teams and we want to be on top of the league so I think we are pretty frustrated.”

After Vanderbilt grabbed its first lead of the series when they put up a run in the top of the first, the Cats answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. And despite starter Justin Lewis laboring through his five innings with five walks and throwing 58 of his 100 total pitches for strikes, the Commodores had just two runs after six innings.

Vandy had a big opportunity in the sixth to grab the lead after putting two on with no outs and All-American Jeren Kendall at the plate, but UK had an answer again. Reliever Zach Pop came in and picked a runner off, struck out Kendall with a 97 MPH fastball and then struck out Stephen Scott with a 99 MPH fastball to escape trouble.

However, the Cats were unable to capitalize on an opportunity of their own in the bottom half of the sixth after loading the bases with two outs. Following UK’s missed opportunity and a missed opportunity of their own the inning before, the Commodores put up three runs in the seventh to grab a 5-2 lead, their biggest of the series.

Mahan then ripped his second homer of the afternoon to trim the Vanderbilt lead to just one in the seventh, but the Cats could not muster anything else against the Commodores bullpen.

Despite the loss in the series finale, the Cats still managed to pick up its first series victory over Vanderbilt since 2009 and remain near the top of the SEC standings with a 7-2 conference record.

A 7-2 conference record is something that the team is clearly proud of, but just as Mahan said, they are not satisfied and a killer mentality is what may have been missing from past seasons.

The Cats will look to take that killer mentality with them on the road on Tuesday when UK travels to No. 2 Louisville who is fresh off a series victory over Virginia. First pitch at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville is set for 6 p.m.