LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky hasn't quite reached "must-win" territory as college baseball's regular season winds down this month, but the wildly inconsistent Wildcats have been flirting with that designation of late.

Nick Mingione's squad helped itself in a big way on Saturday, beating No. 1 Tennessee 5-2 in the completion of a game that was suspended by storms on Friday night at Kentucky Proud Park.

Austin Strickland, Zack Lee (2-1), and Daniel Harper combined to hold one of the nation's best hitting teams to only two runs on four hits through 8.1 innings on Friday. Sean Harney, who was originally scheduled to start Game 3, recorded five routine outs on Saturday to secure the series win for Kentucky (26-20, 9-14 SEC).

It marked UK's first league series victory since taking two out of three from No. 7 Georgia at KPP in March, snapping a skid of five straight series losses. It also marked the first series defeat of the season for Tennessee (41-6, 19-4 SEC).

Kentucky is currently battling to stay out of the bottom two spots in the league standings, which would give the Cats an opportunity to play in the SEC Tournament and potentially extend their season. Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss are all bunched near the bottom of the standings.

Chase Estep had two hits and Oraj Anu drove in a pair of runs to lead the Cats at the plate. Ryan Ritter hit a solo home run, and Alonzo Rubalcaba added an RBI double.

Blade Tidwell (1-1), who is considered a potential first-round MLB draft pick this summer, took the loss for the Vols. He surrendered three runs on four hits over just three innings on the mound Friday.

Tennessee, which came to Lexington averaging 9.5 runs per game and leading the nation with 108 home runs, has been held to four combined runs and no long balls against UK pitching over 22 innings pitched. The Cats won the series opener 3-2 on Thursday night.

The series concludes on Saturday afternoon.