Down to their last strike and having trailed the entire game, Vanderbilt got a three-run homer from Braden Holcomb to give the Commodores an 8-7 win and hand Kentucky a bitter loss on Thursday in Game 1 of the final regular-season series in Nashville.

The No. 9 Commodores trailed 5-0 after the first inning and 7-2 after four innings before creeping within striking distance in the ninth. Kentucky closer Simon Gregersen made his job difficult by walking leadoff batter Ruston Rigdon and, after recording one out, hitting Riley Nelson with a 2-2 pitch to bring the winning run to the plate.

Gregersen (0-4) got ahead of Holcomb 0-2, but after throwing a ball, hung a pitch in the center of the plate which was driven deep over the left-field wall to spark a wild celebration for Vanderbilt (37-16, 17-11 SEC).

The loss was even more bitter for Kentucky (29-21, 13-15 SEC) which is thought to be safely in the NCAA Tournament's field of 64 but could have really used another Quad-1 win over a team likely to get a national seed.

The Cats were often their own worst enemy, failing to score a run after loading the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. They stranded 11 runners on the night, and the lack of those potential insurance runs proved fatal.

Luke Guth (3-0) was the good-timing recipient of the pitching win. He pitched a scoreless ninth with one strikeout to claim the victory. Vandy starter Austin Nye was knocked out in the first inning after surrendering five runs.

Kentucky got an RBI double from Cole Hage and home runs from James McCoy and Carson Hansen to grab the early 5-0 lead.

Vanderbilt got back in the game with a three-run fifth, which included a leadoff home run by 9-hole hitter Mike Mancini, an RBI double from RJ Austin, and an RBI single by Brodie Johnston to knock UK starter Nate Harris out of the game.

Jackson Nove gave the Cats four scoreless innings of relief, but Gregersen could not close it out.

The series resumes on Friday 7 p.m. ET at Hawkins Field.